Changes Of Fate
by Kaptain Kristi
Summary: Sequel to With All My Might. Read WAMM first. Max, Lex, and Jondy return to Seattle, but the familiars aren't far behind. Now they're coming after Max for what happened to White just as the group hoped for some degree of normalacy.
1. Fists Of Fury

A/N: Here we go, the not-so-long awaited to With All My Might! lol. Hopefully this'll live up to whatever expectations yous all had. I wanna thank all my loyal reviewers who are reading this now; I can't wait to hear your comments again! We're not going through any big time warp here, the story starts as Max, Lex, and Jondy are arriving in Seattle, so only about a week has gone by since the end of With All My Might. And to any newcomers to my fics- as I said in my summary, you should probably read With All My Might before reading this fic. I won't be explaining where any new characters came from (such as Lex and Kayla) and there were some major events in the formerly mentioned story you need to be acquainted with before this fic can be understood. The rating is approximate, some chapters will be more like PG, some might turn out to be more R-ish. ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Disclaimer: If these were actually mine, do you think Dark Angel would have been cancelled? No. So their not mine. Don't sue me. I have $5.85 cents to my name, so is it really even worth it? ________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: Fists of Fury  
  
Salem, Oregon Saint Andrews Academy  
  
"Dead?" The high priest of the breeding cult clenched his fist as he was informed of White's death.  
  
"His body is being transported here from Niagara Falls, where it was found shot several times in the chest," a priestess reiterated to him.  
  
"What was he doing there?"  
  
"At first the conclave thought he might have been looking for his son again, but then these were found," she said, dropping a manila folder on the desk in front of her.  
  
As the priest opened it, a look of confusion crossed his face, "What could White have wanted with a teenager?" He asked, seeing the photo of Lex.  
  
"Keep reading. From what we can make out, that girl is the offspring of 452. He was looking for the transgenic again."  
  
"452 was supposed to have disappeared years ago, White was ordered to stop searching for her since she no longer posed a threat to us."  
  
"We think there's more, something he knew that we didn't," the priestess alluded.  
  
"Like what?" this peaked the interest of the priest.  
  
"We don't know. A few of the documents seem incomplete, and the team White worked with didn't know exactly why he wanted 452 dead so badly."  
  
"Did you find out who killed White?"  
  
"We have every reason to believe it was 452."  
  
"Find her," the priest ordered. "The girl, too. And I want them alive."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So what are these things for again?" Jondy smirked, looking at the different cards in her hand.  
  
"The first one is a checkpoint pass, we need that to get through the checkpoints leading up to Seattle. The other is a sector pass, you need that that to go between sectors in the city," Max explained again.  
  
"What's the point of that?" Lex took on Jondy's attitude.  
  
"Apparently it makes it easier to catch people or something," Max rolled her eyes, thinking back to how easy it was to sneak past the sector police.  
  
"So when do we get to run into all your old boyfriends?" Jondy laughed.  
  
"If I have my way, never," Max pulled out her checkpoint pass.  
  
"Where we going first?" Lex wondered aloud.  
  
"Ooo, I wanna see Logan's penthouse!" Jondy squealed.  
  
Ignoring Jondy, Max turned to Lex, "First we're going to Logan's to drop off our stuff, after that, I'm not sure."  
  
"Well, the sooner we get there, the sooner we'll figure it out," Jondy gunned her engine, getting impatient, and took off for the checkpoint ahead on the road.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Seattle, Washington  
  
"What time's my boo gettin' here?" Original Cindy walked into Logan's kitchen.  
  
"Nice to see you, too, Cindy," Logan laughed at her excitement. "I don't know. Max called last night saying that they'd get here sometime today."  
  
"Well Original Cindy's right quick runnin' outta patience," she complained. "And I wanna meet baby boo."  
  
"I'd hardly call her 'baby boo'," Logan laughed.  
  
"Well she's gotta have some kinda nickname. And just what are you fussin' with on the computer again?"  
  
"Oh, did I tell you that Max's sister is coming out here with them?"  
  
"No, you did not," Cindy crossed her arms. "So you gonna spill or does Original Cindy hafta put the smack down on yo' ass?" she snapped when Logan didn't give any explanation.  
  
"Right, sorry. Max's sister Jondy is coming here with them. They hooked up in Chicago about two months after Max left and Lex didn't want to leave without her," Logan answered.  
  
"That still doesn't explain why you're fussin' over the computer."  
  
"Well, Jondy's not going to live here. And finding a decent apartment in Seattle isn't exactly easy."  
  
"Well, you can play knight-in-shining-armor, Original Cindy sees food with her name on it," Cindy smirked.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Got urban decay?" Lex grimaced as she looked around sector five from the checkpoint.  
  
"Hey, I used to live in this sector," Max stuck her tongue out in mock defense.  
  
"I have never felt more sorry for you," Jondy laughed at Max.  
  
"Are you two done yet?" Max rolled her eyes.  
  
"No, we could keep going," Jondy nudged Lex.  
  
"You do that. I'll meet you Logan's," Max gunned her engine and moved up in the line.  
  
"Wait, we don't know sector he lives in!" Lex called.  
  
"Exactly," Max shouted over her shoulder.  
  
Jondy smirked at Max's back as she and Lex gunned their engines and followed Max through the sector checkpoint.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Manhattan, New York  
  
"Hello?" Otto picked up the phone in his office.  
  
"Otto Velasquez?" he heard a woman's voice ask.  
  
"Who's asking?"  
  
"I knew Ames White. You worked for him," the woman returned.  
  
"Who is this?" Otto was slightly freaked out by the phone call.  
  
"You don't need to know that. I need to know where he kept his files on 452." The priestess pressed.  
  
"How do you know about 452?" Otto's face paled a bit.  
  
"I said I knew White. Now where would those files be located?" she was getting slightly agitated at Otto's hesitation.  
  
"Agent White kept them in his office here. I don't know where exactly, he never told us," Otto was unsure how much to tell the woman.  
  
"There, that's all I need to know," was the last thing he heard her say before she ended the call.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Now this is more like it," Jondy gaped as she looked up at Foggle Towers.  
  
"Yup, right up there," Max pointed to the penthouse.  
  
"No wonder you liked him," Lex laughed, pulling out her most angelic smile as Max shot her a death glare.  
  
"Ok, who's scaling the outside with me? Max?" Jondy raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Yeah, for old time's sake," Lex chimed in.  
  
"Just try and keep up," Max challenged as she ran out towards the back of the building where nobody would see them.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Amateurs," Max remarked with a smile as she dropped through the skylight.  
  
Looking around, she smiled contently at how little had changed. The same paintings were still hanging on the walls, all the furniture was exactly where she remembered it to be, and she could hear the ever-present hum of Logan's computers filling her ears. Drawing upon her feline abilities, she listened in on the sound Logan talking.  
  
"Leave some for the rest of us," she heard Logan laugh as his fingers clicked away at the keyboard.  
  
Max crept closer to the office, confused, "He can't know I'm here; he could never hear me before," she tried to reason in her head.  
  
"Oh please, like Original Cindy could eat that much."  
  
Max couldn't contain the gleeful squeal that escaped her lips at hearing Cindy's voice after fifteen years, "Cindy!"  
  
"Max?!" Cindy whirled around. "My god, I missed you so much!" As they looked at each for the first time in fifteen years, their eyes began to water simultaneously.  
  
Logan emerged from his office to see the two women run towards each other.  
  
"C'mon, you can't cry or you'll make me cry," Max hopelessly pleaded as she tightly hugged her best friend.  
  
"Ok, you're gonna tell Original Cindy everything whether you like it or not, ya hear," Cindy demanded as they walked back towards the kitchen.  
  
"Hey," Logan stopped them.  
  
"Right," Max smiled as she walked over to him locked her lips with his. "Hey."  
  
"Hey yourself," Logan smiled back. "Where are Lex and Jondy anyway?" He asked as he looked around the hallway.  
  
"Oh they're outside trying to push each other off a ledge," Max explained casually. As Cindy shot her a 'come again' look, Max added, "They wanted to scale the outside of the building rather then using the elevator and they turned it into a race. When we got about halfway up, they started trying to push each other off the ledge they were on."  
  
"Why do I get the feeling that race was all Jondy's idea," Logan laughed and shook his head.  
  
"Cuz it was," Max winked.  
  
"You talking about me behind my back?" Jondy feigned being offended as she and Lex came down through the skylight.  
  
"Score! Look at this place!" Lex gushed as she surveyed the penthouse. "Do you realize how much we could get if we hocked all this crap?"  
  
"I'll bet Max knows," Jondy teased, referring to the night Max and Logan met.  
  
"Guess I'll handle the introductions," Logan piped. "Cindy, this is Jondy, Max's sister. Jondy, this is Original Cindy. And this," he pointed to Lex, "is mini-Max."  
  
"Hey I ditched that nickname years ago. I'm just as tall as her," Lex stuck her tongue out.  
  
"Sweet baby Jesus. Boo, she looks just like you. And acts just like you," Cindy could hardly believe her eyes and ears.  
  
"You're the girl from one of the pictures," Lex remarked to herself than to Original Cindy.  
  
"Come again?" Cindy asked.  
  
"Oh, just this shoebox Mom had with stuff from when she lived here. There was a picture of you and her in it; I just always wondered who you were, that's all," Lex explained.  
  
"Who wants continue this in where there's food?" Jondy followed her nose into the kitchen.  
  
"Me!" Lex took off behind her.  
  
"Damn, it's unreal hearing a teenager call you Mom," Cindy shook her head at Max as Lex and Jondy dashed off.  
  
"I know. But it's all good, this mom thing isn't so bad," Max smiled.  
  
"Well, I got a niece I gotta go learn everything about," Cindy put her arm around Max's shoulders and led her towards the kitchen. "Logan, you go back to your computers, this is girl time," she teased.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Olympia, Washington  
  
"Hello?" Senator McKinley answered the phone in his office.  
  
"Fe'nos tol," came the voice of the priestess.  
  
"Fe'nos tol," McKinley's own tone of voice changed.  
  
"We may have a situation concerning one of the transgenics again, 452."  
  
"452? I thought she was done with years ago," McKinley readjusted his glasses.  
  
"She's wanted by the conclave for the murder of Ames White," the priestess informed him.  
  
McKinley could hardly believe what he was hearing, "What? Why does this involve me?"  
  
"452 was always in Seattle. She left fifteen years ago but now we think we know why. There was a photo of a girl in White's file who we believe is 452's offspring."  
  
"And what can I do about it?" McKinley asked.  
  
" We think she may have ran back to Seattle. Find her." ________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Ok- good start, sucky start? Yes, I'm still gonna beg for reviews. So show the wonderful little purple button some love. Because if something sucks, and you don't point it out to me, well then it's just gonna keep sucking. But if you tell be, I can make it good. Ok, that's enough begging for one author's note. The next chapter should be up in a week. unless you don't you-know-what. and I didn't say the r-word so that didn't count as more begging. 


	2. All About You

A/N: Thank you everyone who reviewed, I'm glad you like it so far! I do have a vague idea for where I wanna take this, but I could use a little reader input. Please leave a review letting me know how big a role you would Kayla to have in this story and where you want Max and Logan to end up (i.e.- married, engaged, just together, etc.). Like I said, I have a vague idea of what I want, but this could go in so many directions right now, your vote would be really appreciated. And since I was asked- the priest and priestess in this story are the ones seen on DA. The priest was seen at the end of Exposure and the priestess is the older one we saw in several eps (the one that told Max about how they'd all 'proven themselves'). So no, they're not new characters just made up for this fic. They might be given names at some point in the future, but for now they will remain nameless as they were on the show. ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 2: All About You  
  
"So what are you gonna do now?" Original Cindy asked Max later that night as they washed the dishes together after dinner.  
  
"Well, Logan's been looking into some private schools for Lex in the fall," Max answered. "I think the final decision will be hers, she'll be the one going there everyday."  
  
"You know damn well what Original Cindy means," Cindy narrowed her eyes.  
  
Sighing, Max's shoulders dropped in defeat, "I don't know where we'll take it from here."  
  
"May Original Cindy suggest the altar," Cindy more stated than asked.  
  
"OC!" Max smirked at her boo's frankness. After a beat she continued, "I don't know how fast Logan and I are gonna take this. We wanna be together, and he and Lex seem to be hitting off well, but a wedding is one of the last things in my mind right now. I mean, we had one night of being more than just friends, and now we've only been like that for about a month."  
  
"Yet you two have fourteen year old baby girl together."  
  
"I just wanna have as much of a normal life as I can right now," Max tried to close the subject.  
  
Original Cindy just shot her the same look she used to when Max would deny her love for Logan, "Whatever you say, boo."  
  
"I think I'll go unpack," Max headed off towards the bedroom before Cindy had a chance to push the subject of her and Logan any further.  
  
"You do that sugga," she gave a teasing smile at Max's back. Hearing the TV turn on, she made her way into the living room to see who was in there. "What the heck are you watching?" Original Cindy sat down on the couch next to Lex.  
  
"Yu-Gi-Oh," Lex answered without looking away from the TV. "Unpacked the DVDs."  
  
"Original Cindy ain't neva heard of this movie before," Cindy was confused as to what was going on.  
  
"It's not a movie, it's a show. Well, it was anyway. See, that's Yugi right there. And the guy he's playing against is Kaiba. They're playing Duel Monsters, it's a card game, and Yugi is trying to defeat Seto Kaiba to send is evil side to the Shadow Lands," Lex explained as if it was common knowledge. When Original Cindy looked at her as if she was speaking Latin, Lex laughed, "Yeah, I'm a major anime addict."  
  
"So is this your favorite show?" Cindy tried to unlock the mystery that was Lex.  
  
"My fave anime show? Probably, at least it's one of my favorites. But I've always had a soft spot for Sailor Moon. Some of the darker ones are good, but they could never be aired on TV, most of them are too violent or something," she laughed. As an uncomfortable silence settled between the two, Lex turned to Cindy, "Go ahead. Ask me whatever you wanna know."  
  
"Fo' real?" Original Cindy asked as Lex nodded. "Ok, um, when's your birthday?"  
  
"December 6th."  
  
"Favorite things?"  
  
"Lots," Lex laughed. "Colors- black, silver, and red. Food- chicken fried rice and ramen. Band- The Strokes. Stuff to do- ride by bike, read, listen to music, tease Aunt Jondy, watch TV, and mess around online."  
  
"You want a bike like yo' momma's some day?"  
  
"You mean her Ninja? I already have one."  
  
"And you expect Original Cindy to believe that you that?"  
  
"Black and red Ninja 950, it's down in the parking garage right next to Mom's and Jondy's Vulcan," Lex replied honestly.  
  
"Damn, yo' daddy was right when he said 'baby boo' didn't fit you," Cindy shook her head in disbelief.  
  
"Well, I'm sure you can think of something else," Lex grinned.  
  
"Yeah, too bad 'Bulby' is already taken," Jondy rumpled Lex's hair as she climbed over the back of the couch. "Yu-Gi-Oh again? Damn, do you ever get sick of this show?" Jondy rolled her eyes as she saw the TV.  
  
"Yes," Lex smirked in mock-defense. "Sometimes it gets a little too happy," she stuck her tongue out.  
  
"Bulby?" Original Cindy was confused, and deep down a little jealous of the bond the two obviously had.  
  
"Yeah, when she was one, she couldn't say "blueberry", which was her favorite kind of muffin. So every time I'd take her down to the coffee shop where Max worked, she'd point to the container and ask for a 'bulby' instead," Jondy laughed.  
  
"Do you want me to start going down the list of nicknames you've been given over the years?" Lex threatened Jondy.  
  
"You wouldn't dare," Jondy challenged.  
  
"Try me. And don't forget who can kick whose ass, here. I may be half human but the hybrid has surpassed the original," Lex stated with a cocky smirk.  
  
Jondy opened her mouth with a rebuttal, but closed it, knowing that what Lex had just said was true. Original Cindy looked on, wanting to say something to join in the banter, but having no idea where to start.  
  
"Well," Lex sighed, interrupting Original Cindy's thoughts and turning off the TV. "I'm bored. I think I'll go explore Seattle for a little while. Tell Mom I'll be back," she said to Jondy as she picked up her jacket and grabbed her keys.  
  
"You got your cell phone?" Jondy asked. As Lex nodded and held it up, Jondy gave a nod back, "Come back in one piece."  
  
Shocked at what she'd just heard, Original Cindy turned to Jondy when she heard the front door shut, "You're letting a fourteen year old go out alone in Seattle after dark?! Have you lost your mind?"  
  
"What?" Jondy was taken back by Cindy's reaction. "Lex can handle herself. You think Max can kick ass, you should see her go at it. She's not stupid, she knows not to use all her abilities." Seeing that Cindy didn't seem to be relieved at all, Jondy added, "Look, don't worry, She'll be fine, you'll see. The more you get to know her, you'll see she's more like a twenty year old."  
  
"Original Cindy still don't like this," Cindy mumbled under her breath.  
  
"Max isn't the only one with hypersensitive hearing you know," Jondy hinted to Cindy with a laugh, hearing what she said.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"You holding up ok?" Logan saw Max sitting on the bed, staring out at the night sky.  
  
"I've been worse," Max tried to shake off her worried expression.  
  
"Max, what's wrong?" Logan sat down next to her and tentatively put his arm around her shoulders.  
  
Sighing, Max knew she'd have to come clean about what was running through her mind sooner or later, "Now I just keep thinking we shouldn't have come."  
  
Logan felt his heart drop to his feet as he tried to cover up the look of hurt and disappointment that had come over his face, "What do you mean?"  
  
"No, Logan its not that," Max caught the expression in Logan's eyes before he had attempted to mask it. Breathing deeply, she tried to explain herself, "I keep thinking that our coming here is going to get you killed. White's cult bitches aren't gonna just brush off his death like it was nothing; they're gonna want answers. And if they find whatever files he kept on me, guess who they're gonna come after. Then if they find out I came back for you, they'll kill you, too. That is, if they don't just kill you for being with me in the first place."  
  
Logan took a minute to let Max's words sink in before shaking his head, "Max, we've been through this before. You've always had and always will have people after you, that's nothing new, and I'm not loosing you because if it. If the familiars show up, we can have every transgenic in Seattle ready to take them out."  
  
"They're still here?" Max was slightly surprised. She'd expected most of them to flee the city at the first chance they got.  
  
"Yeah, they set up their own little town in Terminal City," Logan answered. "Joshua even moved there a few months after you left," he added.  
  
"Joshua?" Max suddenly felt guilty. In the entire emotional overload that day, she'd never once asked about him. "How's he doing?"  
  
"He's fine, same as he always was," Logan smiled. "Misses you like crazy, though. I see him every now and then and every time he asks if you're coming back."  
  
"Guess I'll be going to Terminal City tomorrow," Max snorted.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Olympia, Washington  
  
"Is there any new information on 452?" the priest asked as he walked into the old warehouse.  
  
"No, we haven't found anything yet," McKinley answered as he tensed up.  
  
"She'll pay for what she's done," the priest threatened. "Remember, I want them alive."  
  
"Why not just kill the transgenics and get it over with?" Senator McKinley asked, eager to just end the situation as quickly as possible.  
  
"Because we want them for research. We never did find out how far Sandeman's work at Manticore progressed and she's the key to finding out," he explained. "If we can find out how she could be exposed to the pathogen in the snakes and show no symptoms, let alone not get sick, and whether or not she was able to pass those antibodies onto her offspring, then we might be able to stop whatever Sandeman had planned."  
  
"And what if we can't?"  
  
"Either way, she and the girl will be killed when the testing is finished. After 452 and her offspring are dead, the threat is gone. Fe'nos tol."  
  
"Fe'nos tol," McKinley turned back towards his car.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Terminal City  
  
"Hey Joshua," Alec sauntered into the converted warehouse Joshua lived in.  
  
"Alec," Joshua greeted him back.  
  
"What's that you're working on?" Alec walked around the canvas in front of Joshua.  
  
"Little Fella," Joshua answered somberly, continuing to paint yet another picture of Max.  
  
Max was sitting on her Ninja, the lights and buildings blurring into a brilliant sea behind her. There was an empty look in her eyes as she focused on something out of the picture, as if she was charting a path she didn't want to travel.  
  
"I know you miss her, Josh, but I'm sure she'll come back some day," Alec tried to offer him words of comfort.  
  
"No," Joshua shook his head. "Logan says that, Original Cindy says that, you say that, but Little Fella still gone."  
  
"Hey, Alec," Dix called to him from in front of several computer screens. "Come take a look at this."  
  
Alec walked over to Dix as he pointed out an image of a girl climbing up the fence around Terminal City.  
  
"I wouldn't worry about it," he said. "There's two feet of barbed wire on top if that fence, it's not like she could ever- " he stopped short as the girl effortlessly flipped herself over the barbed wire and landed flawlessly on the ground below, "clear it," he squeaked. "Ok, everybody at their stations out there, we have an unknown girl in the city," Alec shouted out to all the transgenics in the warehouse, "Don't hurt her, I wanna see how she cleared the fence."  
  
"You think she could be an X-series?" Dix questioned.  
  
Alec shook his head, "No, the youngest X-series we have here are X8s and they're all in their 20s now, this girl's a teenager. And watch the way she's looking around, like she's never been here before."  
  
"Then if she's a human, how did she clear the wire like that?"  
  
"That's what I'd like to know," Alec grabbed a gun and followed the transgenic militia outside. ________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: I had several people share my opinion that the first chapter was a little weak, or at least the characterization. I just didn't really know where to start, but I promise, it'll get better from here. Now that I've gotten the ball rolling, the chapters will come more easily, too. Please leave a review with your votes on the stuff from the first author's note (where M/L will end up and Kayla's role.) Thanks in advance to all those who click the purple button! 


	3. Deceit and Discoveries

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed for their input. I know what I'll do now. But yous won't know what I'm gonna do until I get to that particular chapter! ::insert evil laugh here:: I will be bringing Kayla in shortly; many of you said you wanted her in this story. There's not much else for me to ramble on in this author's note, so jumping right in.. ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 3: Deceit and Discoveries  
  
Terminal City  
  
Alec and the other transgenics watched Lex from the shadows of the buildings around them. They were trying to remain undetected, unsure of the threat she posed to them.  
  
"Alright, sweetheart, where's your barcode?" Alec wondered to himself.  
  
Mulling over Lex since the moment he was on her tail, he had examined her every move. Everything about her indicated that she was a transgenic; the way she waked, her grace, her silent footsteps, and above all the skills she had exhibited back at the fence. The only thing that left him baffled was her age. Alec had gathered that she couldn't be any older then sixteen, making her an X10, but to his knowledge, none of them were still alive. They were only infants when Manticore burned down and wouldn't have been able to make it out. His thoughts came to a halt as Lex suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around, scanning the area as if she was looking for some to be there.  
  
As a leering smile came across her lips, Lex scoffed. "Nice try," she smirked in Alec's general direction, "I know you're there and that you've been following me, so just get your ass out here and let's end this."  
  
Alec was shocked, but signaled to the rest of the militia that they should stay put. Taking in a deep breath, he walked out into the street to face Lex.  
  
"Who are you?" he pointed his gun at the back of Lex's head from about ten feet away.  
  
"Someone who's warning you to loose the gun," Lex snapped sarcastically, having heard the safety being clicked off.  
  
Before Alec had a chance to reply, Lex flipped and blurred behind him, knocking the gun out of his hand and out of sight. Alec stared at his now empty hand unable to think clearly. Whirling around, the remainder of color drained from his face at what he saw. Lex stood under the bean of one of the few streetlights in Terminal City with her hip cocked to the right and her hand resting there.  
  
"What?" she snapped at Alec's gaze. "Never saw someone better looking than you before?" Alec continued to stare, as Max kept flashing through is his mind.  
  
"Alec?" Joshua stepped out behind him. "Need help?" Looking at Lex for the first time, Joshua voiced the one coherent though that Alec had been trying to get out, "She looks like Little Fella."  
  
"Little Fella? And what the hell are you?" Lex took on a defensive stance when Joshua appeared.  
  
"I'm first, special. Joshua," Joshua answered, stepping closer to Lex, but then pulling back.  
  
"Why are you here?" Alec cut in, asking Lex before she said anything else.  
  
"Can't a girl get lost in a strange city?" Lex's voiced dripped with Max's familiar brand of sarcastic wit.  
  
"How did you clear that fence?" Alec pressed on.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Lex inhaled sharply, getting ready to lunge at him at any second.  
  
Alec motioned his head up towards the security cameras, implying the answer to Lex's question, "Not too many strangers come sniffing around here."  
  
"What the hell is this place?" Lex wondered aloud as some of the other brave transgenics made their way out of hiding at the sight of Lex's familiar face.  
  
"Terminal City," Mole came up and pointed his machine gun at Lex.  
  
"Easy, Mole," Alec ordered, putting up his hand but not taking his eyes off Lex. "What are you? X10?"  
  
"I'm not like you," Lex tried to avoid a straight answer.  
  
"Hey Alec, there are some lights going on in those buildings over there," Dix spoke up, pointing at the apartments on the street over the fence.  
  
"Everybody inside," Alec ordered in compliance. Bringing his gun back up to Lex, we directed her towards the entrance to the main warehouse, "You, too."  
  
Lex hesitated, but began obeying Alec's orders; she didn't want to risk running when it looked like the entire militia had loaded guns.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Jondy, what time did Lex leave?" Max glanced at the clock on the wall.  
  
"Around 9:00, why?"  
  
"I don't like this, it's almost 11:30. She's never gone this long," Max worried.  
  
"Well, sometimes she will be," Jondy tired to pass it off. "She brought her cell with her."  
  
"But she hasn't called yet. She knows the rule, and she always calls if she'll be gone any more than two hours."  
  
"She hasn't called?" Max's worry was evident in Jondy's voice.  
  
"Original Cindy told you she didn't like this," Cindy shook her head as she walked into the kitchen to join Max and Jondy.  
  
"Let's try not to jump to any conclusions before we find Lex," Max said just as much to herself as to Jondy and Cindy as she picked up the phone and dialed Lex's number.  
  
"What do you mean, find Lex?" Logan took on Max's worried tone of voice as he passed by the kitchen.  
  
"Lex has been since nine and hasn't called," Jondy answered. "Any luck?" she turned to Max.  
  
"Not answering," Max cut off the call. After thinking for a minute, she reverted into solider mode. Jondy caught the sudden change in Max's demeanor and copied her. "Alright, Logan and Cindy, you two stay here, she might just come back, maybe her battery ran low. Jondy, you and I will go out and look for her. I've got a weird feeling."  
  
"I'll come with you," Logan tried.  
  
"No, Jondy and I bikes, that'll go faster," Max stopped him. "We'll be back," she promised as they headed out the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I'm not gonna ask you again, what are you?" Alec's patience had run out over an hour ago.  
  
"Since I'm obviously not gonna tell you, can I just go home?" Lex gave a disinterested sigh as she filed her nails with her keys.  
  
Joshua started laughing softly from beside Lex, "Acts like Max."  
  
At the mention of her mother's name, Lex tensed and snapped her head towards Joshua, "Max?"  
  
"You know her?" Alec got hopeful that they were getting somewhere.  
  
Realizing she'd said more than she's wanted to, Lex tried to brush it off, "Well, how many people are there in the world named Max?"  
  
"There's only one X5-452," Alec challenged back.  
  
Lex inhaled sharply, but didn't reply. Knowing that they knew her mother didn't make her feel any more comfortable, unlike she had expected. Only Alec and Joshua were left with her, all the other transgenics and wandered off to some other part of Terminal City.  
  
"Um, anybody there?" Joshua nervously waved his hand in front of Lex's face.  
  
"We can do this all night, but I'm not telling you anything," Lex put her best solider expression on.  
  
"Just show me your damn barcode," Alec stormed towards her.  
  
Grasping the opportunity to end this for one night, Lex reached out and grabbed the collar of Alec's jacket. She brought her knee up into his crotch, evoking a high-pitched screech from him, and throwing him into a pile of pipes behind them. Looking over at a shocked Joshua, she gave a brief nod and took off running with all her speed back to her bike.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Over there!" Max shouted to Jondy as she pointed in the direction of Terminal City.  
  
Pulling up outside the fence, Jondy saw a Lex's bike sitting outside.  
  
"Engine's cold," she reported. "She's been off it for a while. You think she went in there?" Jondy asked, seeing Max staring through the fence. "What is this place, anyway?"  
  
"Terminal City," Max answered. "This is where all the transgenics went after people started a war against them."  
  
"Well maybe Lex was curious. Now I wanna see it," Jondy started to climb the fence.  
  
Max shook her head, "She didn't know what this was."  
  
"Well, you got any better ideas?" Jondy stopped at the top.  
  
Casting a glance back to the deserted motorcycle, Max jumped over the fence with ease. Almost instantly, she backed up against a wall. Even if Lex wasn't here, Joshua surely would be. What would she say to him after all this time? She had been so excited about seeing him again, but she couldn't help feeling nervous now.  
  
"What's wrong?" Jondy joined Max at the wall, wondering if she had sensed a threat around them.  
  
"Nothing," Max shrugged. "Just someone who's in here."  
  
"An old boyfriend?" Jondy joked, trying to lighten Max's mood.  
  
"An old friend," Max stressed the last word Jondy with a glare.  
  
"Then let's see who we find," Jondy used her night vision to scan the dark alleyways. "I can hear some people up there," she pointed to a dimly lit building at the end of an adjacent block.  
  
"Then let's head the other way," Max took off with Jondy close behind.  
  
After going forth a few steps, Jondy and Max tensed simultaneously as they head footsteps coming towards them. Whoever it was looking to get to the fence, fast.  
  
"Lex!" they both shouted out, seeing a familiar blur pass them by.  
  
"Mom? Aunt Jondy? What are you doing here?" Lex skidded to a stop. Hearing Alec's voice coming to in the background, she took off running again. As Max and Jondy tried to focus in on what she was running from, Lex grabbed them towards her, "I'll tell you later, let's just get outta here."  
  
Alec made it to the fence, stumbling to keep his balance after sprinting at his top speed, as the last roars of the engines faded away.  
  
"She gone?" Joshua panted as he finally caught up with him.  
  
"Yeah," Alec stated in disbelief. "She's gone."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"You sure you're ok?" Original Cindy handed Lex the bowl of ramen she had requested.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. It's the other guy who you should worry about," Lex laugh in am attempt to make Original Cindy stop fussing over her.  
  
"So you gonna tell us what happened or do we have to threaten it out of you?" Max grabbed chopsticks and took another bowl out of the microwave for herself.  
  
"I don't really know myself. I was just riding my bike and I saw that Terminal City place. I thought it looked cool, so I hopped the fence to do a little exploring. Then all of a sudden there's this little transgenic army behind me. So this one cocky guy, who turned out to be an X5, comes out and starts asking me all these questions like, what I am, and why I was there. And then this dog guy came out behind him and started calling me "Little Fella", I have no clue what that was about. Anyway, the dog guy and the jerky guy take me into this warehouse, and soon all the other creatures left, I guess they got bored listening to me not give them any answers. Finally I had to throw the X5 over my head into a pile of pipes; I wouldn't show him the back of my neck, he thought I had a barcode. So when he went to look for himself, I kicked his ass. Took that opportunity to leave, ran into you guys on the way out. You know the story from there," Lex gave a brief relay of the night's events to her waiting audience.  
  
Max, Logan, and Original Cindy all sat there in shock. Though Lex had no idea why Joshua had called her Little Fella, they did. Not to mention that she had, no doubt, run into Alec as well. Max let out a laugh-like sigh at the thoughts of Joshua seeing her in Lex and Alec's ass getting kicked by her daughter.  
  
Oblivious what the other three adults knew, Jondy laughed as she rumpled Lex's hair, "That's my girl." Looking over at the other three, she and Lex exchanged confused glances, "What's with you guys?"  
  
"Nothing, nothing, we're fine," Max quickly tried to shake off what was going through her mind. "Just, you know, of all the places in Seattle, you find transgenic central."  
  
"Well so long as baby boo's back in one piece, Original Cindy needs to get loftin'. There are those of us who have to answer to Normal in the morning," Original Cindy got up and grabbed her jacket. "And Max," she caught her boo in a tight hug, "You're coming with me. Normal seein' you after fifteen years will be the highlight if the week; 'sides, Sketchy will wanna see you."  
  
"I guess that could be fun," Max knew she had no hope of getting out of Cindy's demand. "Night boo."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Later that night, Max wandered out to the roof. With Logan and Jondy asleep, she'd figured Lex would have the same idea as her.  
  
"Enjoying the view?" Max assumed the same position as Lex, with her legs hanging off the building.  
  
"It's something new to look at," Lex shrugged. "And this isn't exactly as high as the Skylon."  
  
"Well we can fix that," Max pointed to Space Needle in the Seattle skyline. "That was my favorite place in the city, the Skylon was a replacement for it."  
  
"Can we go there?" Lex jumped up and got ready to scale down the back of the building.  
  
"Tomorrow Lex," Max had to laugh at Lex's energy. "You're not tired even after your little adventure tonight?"  
  
"Like you'd be. And I wanna go where Cindy's taking you tomorrow, whatever it is," Lex sat back down.  
  
"Jam Pony, it's where I used to work. My boss there, Normal, he hated all of us. The last time I came back after disappearing was defiantly deemed entertaining by Sketchy, and then I was only gone about three months. Me just walking in there after fifteen years oughta be priceless."  
  
"And just who is Sketchy again? I kept hearing the name, but never put anything together," Lex was eager to finally find out about her mother's life in Seattle.  
  
"He's a friend. A complete idiot and a near-pervert, but he's still great. He was always on some stupid new scheme that would bring him fame or money. That or trying out new bike trick which ended in him falling and hitting his head," Max smiled remembering some of the crap Sketchy used to get himself into.  
  
Smiling, Lex leaned over and rested her head in Max's lap like she used to do when she was a little girl, "Tell me more about Seattle."  
  
Max reached down ran her fingers through Lex's long, silky hair, remembering when she would lay like that every night, "What do you wanna know?" ________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: As most of you probably figured out, Alec will finally find out exactly who Lex is in the next chapter when she tags along to Jam Pony. We will be seeing Kayla soon, or more hearing from her, but it's the same difference. As always- please leave me a review! I love hearing your opinions even if it's criticism or you just type in "still reading" or something like that, just let me know that you are in fact reading this story. 


	4. Life Brings Me Back

A/N: Thank you, as always, to all my reviewers! I love hearing your feedback and knowing that you're reading, so keep it up! This is the sad part of the author's note.. On Tuesday, I'm leaving for Colorado for two weeks. Yes, I know, now you want to throw me into the pit of despair for leaving for so long again- but I can't help when my parents plan family vacations! I will get chapter 5 up as soon as I possibly can when I get back, so this will just have to last you until then! ________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
  
Chapter 4: Life Brings Me Back  
  
"You're sure you're ok?" Logan asked Lex for the millionth time as she wolfed down a bowl of Captain Crunch.  
  
"Ten seconds ago, the answer was yes and the answer is still yes," Lex dramatized, getting slightly peeved.  
  
"Well, it could have been dangerous, you don't know who you could have run into out there, especially at night," Logan reiterated, having not been able to sufficiently chide Lex the night before.  
  
"Yeah, and like any of them stand a chance in hell against me," Lex mumbled through a mouth full of crunch berries.  
  
"You could have gotten lost. Or what about all the biohazard stuff in Terminal City?" Logan wouldn't let the subject drop.  
  
"No, I wouldn't have gotten lost. The high-rise district isn't exactly hard to spot, plus I have Mom's memory and sense of direction. And I'm immune to all that biohazard crap, you know that," Lex smirked.  
  
"Well you had me really worried, Lex," Logan wasn't sure she grasped what he was saying.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Lex unleashed her bitchy side. "You were here pissing yourself and wanting to go follow Mom and Aunt Jondy. Well, I'm fine. And I think I'm a little more like mom than you realize. If she wanted to go out for a ride in the middle of the night, would have questioned it? No. I like it, it's fun, I don't sleep, and it helps me unwind. I can take care of myself and I don't need someone treating me like a baby. No matter who you are, I can still kick your ass. There might be people out there looking for Mom, no shit Sherlock, I grew up like that. So quit questioning me before you even know me," Lex ranted, all in one breath. Seeing the sudden hurt in Logan's eyes after that last statement, Lex quietly added, "I didn't mean it like. Just don't try to push this new set of rules on me before you know why I do things." She couldn't find exactly the right words for her rephrasing, but just backed out and headed down to the garage to see if Max was ready to go before she dug herself into an even deeper hole.  
  
Logan stood, watching her go and trying to take in everything she had just said. Slowly, his look of hurt and confusion twisted into a small smile as he wondered whether he and Lex had just had their first father/daughter fight.  
  
In the elevator, Lex stared back at her reflection on the silver doors, "Well that was just great," she mentally berated herself. "You just had to blow up at him. You just had to unleash the inner bitch. You really should go back and apologize. He didn't deserve it, he was just worried and he is your-. .Well, you shouldn't have blown up that."  
  
Lex still couldn't bring herself to use the word father. She felt guilty and wondered if Logan had noticed how she'd never once called him 'Dad'.  
  
"Sure, he's noticed," the nagging voice in her head cut into her thoughts again. "You saw how hurt he looked."  
  
Staring down at her feet, unable to look herself in the eye anymore, Lex pushed her conscience back, "I'll deal with it later," she mumbled. "It's too late to go back now. And it's not like I'd know what to say anyway," was her last thought as she heard the elevator doors open with a ding.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"It's official, this city's a dump," Lex looked around sector twelve from in front of Jam Pony.  
  
"We know that, sugga," Original Cindy laughed. "It neva gets any better, either." Looking behind them, she asked, "Where's Jondy?"  
  
"She went to try and buy new parts for her bike off the black market," Lex took the keys out of the ignition.  
  
"Guess some things never change," Max smiled as she looked around Jam Pony. "So who took my locker?" she asked as the three strolled down the ramp.  
  
"You think Original Cindy would let someone take her boo's space?" Cindy brought Max to her same empty locker.  
  
"Awww, and look at that, it still says my name," Max ran her hand over the carved strip of metal.  
  
"Bip bip bip, people! This not social hour!" Normal's voice carried throughout the converted warehouse. "Cindy, package to sector four. Max, sector seven," he hurried past them, barely looking up. About three steps past their bench, he stopped short in his tracks. Slowly turning around in a state of shock, his mouth hung open as he crossed his arms.  
  
Leaning back against the lockers and trying her hardest to contain her laughter, Max wiggled her fingers in a mock-wave.  
  
"And just what excuse awaits me this time, huh? Maybe you got abducted by aliens? Or got sent back in time?" Normal still couldn't believe that Max was back, for years he was convinced she was dead.  
  
"How about some whacked out cult had me on the run because I could take down everything they were working for and they wanted me dead in a big way?" Max knew Normal would never take it was the actual truth, even though it was.  
  
"Well that's the worst excuse I've heard yet," Normal shook his head. "There was a time when people would give notice when they were going to leave a job, missy. They didn't just stop showing up," Normal's admonishing was cut off as Lex walked in front of him and sat down on the bench in front of Max.  
  
"Since when does it cost seven bucks for a soda?" Lex stuck out her tongue as she popped the can open.  
  
"Since the pulse, welcome to America," Max grabbed the can took a sip.  
  
"And who are you?" Normal didn't think he could be surprised by anything after Max's return.  
  
"Tinkerbelle," Lex quipped between gulps of soda.  
  
"Normal, this is my daughter, Lex," Max answered after Lex's sarcastic profession.  
  
"Great, as if one of you wasn't enough," Normal shook his head. "Now go home, employees only during business hours."  
  
"Now Normal, you're not gonna give my boo her job back?" Original Cindy sounded like she had something up her sleeve.  
  
"No, she's blown it," Normal challenged her to go any further.  
  
"Well, what about what you were saying the other day? About what you wouldn't give for another messenger with a motorcycle? So you could keep that upped efficiency? And who here is willing to work for you and has that kind a ride?" Cindy crossed her arms.  
  
Normal opened his mouth to protest, but couldn't think of anything to say to discharge what Cindy had said, "You need to redo all your forms and those deliveries better be faster than anyone else," Normal stomped off to his counter as Max followed him, high-fiving Cindy as she walked off.  
  
"Now see, I'd think that pole up his ass would be longer than nine feet," Lex laughed, remembering Max's comment from the night before on the roof.  
  
"Oh, he gets worse than that," Cindy laughed. "You remember hearing about Sketchy?" Cindy asked Lex as she spotted him coming through the door and fending off Normal's yelling about how he was late.  
  
"Yeah, why?" Lex turned, following Original Cindy's eyes. "That him?" she gathered as Cindy nodded.  
  
"You will never guess what happened to me last night," Sketchy came running up to Cindy. "I was at Crash and this really hot blonde -" he stopped mid- sentence when he saw Lex's face. "Hey, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were Max," he remarked with a smile.  
  
"Sketchy," Cindy interrupted him. She pointed back to the desk he had just passed by.  
  
Sketchy slowly recognized Max's profile and his eyes widened, "No way. Max!" he ran over to her. "Holy shit, what are you doing here?"  
  
"Getting a job," Max hugged him back.  
  
"As much a hate to cut this reunion short, you get your moronic self out to sector three," Normal said in a monotone and disinterested voice and handed Sketchy a package.  
  
Taking the package, Sketchy turned around on his way to the door, "Hey, have you seen Alec yet?"  
  
"No, fortunately. He still work here?" Max replied.  
  
"That he does," Normal cut in as he shooed Sketchy away. "He's out on a run like the rest of you should be," he shouted back at the other messengers who were standing around holding packages.  
  
"Just great," Max cooed, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she handed her completed forms to Normal and walked back to reclaim her locker.  
  
"Who's Alec?" Lex asked Max as soon as she sat down. "And why didn't you mention him last night?"  
  
"I was trying to spare your ears," Max smirked back.  
  
"Now, Max, he has changed a little," Original Cindy stuck up for him. Off of Max's glare, she shrugged and changed her answer, "Ok, so maybe not, but you just flat out hate the boy."  
  
"And with good reason," Max retaliated, pointing over to the entrance where Alec had just walked in with is same jerky smile indicating he had brought some ditz home the night before. As Lex gasped and jumped up, Max crossed her arms, "He look familiar Lex?"  
  
"How'd you know that?"  
  
"Cocky X5 who thinks he's all that; I'd recognize a description of Alec anywhere," Max said with disgust.  
  
As Normal pointed Alec over in Max's direction after he had shown his clipboard, Lex assumed the same fighting stance she had used the pervious night. Alec strolled over with his cockiest grin, but his face fell the instant he saw Lex at Max's side.  
  
"You," he uttered, shocked to see her again.  
  
"Come back for more?" Lex raised her eyebrows.  
  
"You know her?" Alec asked Max about Lex.  
  
"No, not at all," Max smirked and rolled her eyes.  
  
Turning back to Lex, Alec whispered, "Look, I know you're not just an average girl; an average girl couldn't do what you did last night. I will find out what series you are, count on that."  
  
Smirking, Lex turned around and pulled aside her hair, revealing the blank back of her neck, "Care to tell me what series I am?"  
  
"You don't fool me," Alec's voice became fierce. "You probably used a laser to get rid of it."  
  
"Alec, she doesn't have a barcode," Max whispered so that only transgenic hearing could pick it up. "She never did."  
  
"But that's impossible. Only Joshua doesn't have one," Alec protested.  
  
"No, it's not. She's not an X series. She's my daughter."  
  
Looking from Max's face to Lex's, everything finally downed on Alec; why Lex didn't know Seattle, why they looked so much alike, where Lex's sarcasm came from, but most of all where Lex's abilities cam from.  
  
"And she thinks you're the father," Lex spit out at Alec's surprised face.  
  
"W-what?! That's impossible!" Alec raised his voice.  
  
"Alexa!" Max growled sternly, "That's enough."  
  
Before any of them could say anything more, Normal shouted out, "Max! Unless you want to set the new record for getting fired, get moving!"  
  
Rolling her eyes, Max picked up the package she a dropped down before, "Fifteen years and you think he'd have found something better to do."  
  
"No such luck," Original Cindy agreed. "Baby boo, why don't you go check out the South Market. It's far, but it'll kill time."  
  
"Why not? I could use something to do."  
  
Max took Lex outside and pointed her in the direction she wanted. Waving as her mother disappeared out of site, Lex stored away the directions for later and looked out towards the Space Needle. Maneuvering her way through the crowded Seattle streets like a native, Lex reached the tower soon enough and scouted out the perfect spot to scale without getting noticed. Once on top, she pulled out her cell phone and was pleasantly surprised to find she could get a clear signal. Pulling a slip of paper out of her pocket, she dialed the number written on it.  
  
"Hey," she smiled when the call went through.  
  
"Hey," Kayla smiled back. "So how's Seattle?"  
  
"Holy crap, I haven't been in this city for twenty-four hours and you would not believe what has happened to me already," Lex was so glad to hear Kayla's voice.  
  
"Well, after your last little adventure back home, I think I could believe just about anything, but try me," Kayla laughed. "Oh, wait, Kyle wants to say hi," she handed the phone to her little brother.  
  
"Les!" Kyle screamed into the phone.  
  
"Hi Kyle. Do you like Boston?" Lex smiled at his enthusiasm.  
  
"No. Want the old house," Kyle said frankly. "Bye bye."  
  
"Bye Kyle," Lex laughed.  
  
"He isn't taking to this too well, but at least he'll sleep in his own room now," Kayla reclaimed the phone. "So, let's hear about Seattle."  
  
Lex spent the rest of the morning on top of the old Space Needle, reiterating everything to Kayla, basking in talking to her best friend again.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Well, there you have. Now you have to live off of that for two weeks. I swear I will have chapter 5 up as soon as possible when I get home. Please leave me a review; you know how much I appreciate your input. The purple button needs some love! Lots of reviews and maybe you'll see chapter 5 sooner than you expect.. 


	5. Memory Wasteland

A/N: Surprise! Bet yous didn't expect to see this today! I finished my packing in about ten minutes, but the rest of my family will spend the next day over packing their heads off. Me, I'm good with a few pairs of shorts and no more than five t-shirts. The rest of them, a huge suitcase stuffed with things they'll never wear. So this gives me some extra time to get another chapter done. I know the plotline with the breeding cult is looking neglected here, but bear in mind that even though we're on chapter five already, this is still only the first full day in Seattle. I'm not forgetting about the familiars, but a bunch of scenes where all they do is keep saying that they're still searching for Max, Lex, and Jondy seems rather pointless to me. We'll see them soon, but the action with that is still a little ways off. Thanks so much to all my reviewers! And yes, I know it'll be a painful two weeks, but you'll survive. You all pulled through that last time..  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 5: Memory Wasteland  
  
"Hey," Lex rode into the garage below Foggle Towers to find Jondy hunched over her bike. "How'd the black market go?"  
  
"It's dry in this city," Jondy grimaced. "But I got a new fan belt and a little motor oil, so I wouldn't call it a total loss. How was Jam Pony?"  
  
"Well you know that guy I beat up last night?" Lex hinted. "Turns out he works there, too and Mom knows him."  
  
"Get out," Jondy teased.  
  
"No, seriously. His name is Alec and for some apparent reason she hates him. Cindy said so but I don't know why. Way I figure, Mom must know the dog guy, too. I think she was Little Fella."  
  
"Oh, the questions we will torment her with later," Jondy laughed. "Hey hand me that wrench over there. And I think you and Logan need to have a talk about the rules you've grown up with."  
  
"What? How did-?" Lex was cut off  
  
"Hypersensitive hearing," Jondy reminded her. "The inner bitch was a bit harsh, but he wants to treat you like the average fourteen year old. So to him, not only should you not be driving a motorcycle, but you shouldn't be allowed to ride it yourself at night." Lex opened her mouth with an interjection, but Jondy jumped back in before she could protest, "Look, I know you're not the average teen and I know what you've grown up with, but Logan doesn't. Whether or not you want Max to be in this is up to you, even though Logan will defiantly at least mention it to her. But you two need to come to an understanding or you'll drive each other insane trying to live in the same house. Got it?"  
  
"Got it," Lex sighed.  
  
"And if I were you I'd go take advantage of the fact that's up there alone right now," Jondy winked at her.  
  
"I'm going," Lex let out a dramatic breath as she headed towards the elevator.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Following the constant hum of computers, Lex found Logan mulling over different files as he brought them up. She stood there for a minute in silence, just watching him as Max had often done.  
  
Turning around to reach for a folder, Logan saw her and would have jumped out of his skin if he had been wearing the exoskeleton, "Lex! Dammit, you scared the hell out of me."  
  
Lex laughed a little, but looked down at her feet when she remembered why she had come up here.  
  
"Something you need?" Logan asked, seeing how tense she was.  
  
Repressing her inner turmoil, Lex started to explain herself, "Look, I'm sorry went bitchy on you this morning. I get why you were worried and you didn't deserve that. But I just need you to understand that I've never really had any strict rules and I've been known to do a lot of the things Mom does. And that's not gonna change just cuz we moved and you're here now."  
  
Nodding, Logan began asking the questions that had been nagging at his mind all day, "So what are your rules?"  
  
"It's simple- so long as I show I can be trusted I'm free to do as I please."  
  
"And just how would you show you can be trusted?" Logan speculated.  
  
"No smoking, no drinking, no drugs. Be careful who I talk to, you never know who's looking for Mom. If I'm going to be out past 11:00, call to say where I'll be and what time I'm getting back. If I'm going out for a ride, tell someone and bring my cell," Lex shrugged. "And then there's the classics, but they're pretty much implied."  
  
"The classics?" Logan tried to keep up with her.  
  
"Yeah, things like do your homework, don't skip school, be polite, and use good manners," Lex explained. "And with punishments- if I come out and tell the truth the first time I'm asked or sooner, I won't get punished. Verbally reprimanded, maybe, depending on what I did, but I won't get grounded."  
  
"Ok, I guess I could get used to that. But what about your bedtime or movies you aren't allowed to watch?"  
  
"Why would I have a bedtime? I need like, an hour of sleep a night. And I can watch whatever I want so long as I show I can handle it," Lex replied. Fielding Logan's next question before he asked, Lex went on, "And showing I can handle it means don't start swearing a lot if it's in the movie; don't act like slut just cuz it was in a movie; don't act violent just because everything in the movie blows up."  
  
"And that's it?"  
  
"Yeah, that's it," Lex was glad that talk over.  
  
"Alright," he shrugged. Though the rules were pretty lax, he couldn't think of any other way he could see Max raising her. And Lex was a great kid anyway. "Um, I'm gonna head down the market, there are some things I need to pick up. Care to join me?" Logan suggested.  
  
"I was just there, but sure. I can add a few things to your list."  
  
"Like what?" Logan turned the chair around to face her on his way to the exo.  
  
"For starters, you have a serious lack of cookies here," Lex grinned.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So you gonna head down to Terminal City tonight?" Original Cindy asked Max as they left Jam Pony.  
  
"Yeah, you know I have to tell Joshua I'm back," Max mounted her Ninja. "Count on the rest of the crew coming, too. How 'bout you?"  
  
"Damn straight I'll be there. The doggy dog missed you like crazy, this is one reunion Original Cindy's gotta see."  
  
"Aiight. Later boo," Max gunned her engine. "Oh, hold up," she turned around as one last though popped into her head, "tell Alec to be there; I got something he needs to hear."  
  
"Will do," Cindy promised. "See ya."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So who exactly am I meeting?" Lex asked again as they all rode to Terminal City later that night.  
  
"You already met Alec, so that's over with," Max turned around in her front seat, "now you have to meet Joshua. He's the dog guy from last night."  
  
"Whoa, so you do know the dog guy? Then you must be Little Fella," Lex gathered. "How'd you get that name anyway?"  
  
"Well the first time I met him, at Manticore, I called him 'big fella' because I didn't know he had a name. Since I'm smaller than him, he called me Little Fella and that's been his nickname for me ever since," Max explained.  
  
"Damn, I would pay big money to see the movie Lifetime could make outta your life," Lex laughed and shook her head.  
  
As Jondy tried her best to stifle a laugh, Max rolled her turned back around.  
  
"Well I hate to ask you to move Your Highness, but we're here," Original Cindy pushed Lex up from her sprawled out position with her shoulders on Cindy's lap and her feet propped up on Jondy.  
  
"Aw, and just when I was comfortable," Lex smirked.  
  
As the five walked up to an opening in the fence, Logan spoke up, "What about those of us who aren't immune to all the biohazard things in there?"  
  
"Logan, quit bein' a wimp and get yo' ass through that fence. Original Cindy's been in there before and ain't nothin' wrong here," Cindy gave Logan a push towards the opening.  
  
Once they all reached the warehouse that had become the headquarters of Terminal City, Max looked over at Cindy and gave a slight nod. Walking into the warehouse as if she'd gone there everyday for the past fifteen years, she spotted Joshua over to the far wall, concentrating on a canvas in front of him.  
  
Max snuck up behind him unnoticed, "What's that Big Fella?" she made her presence known.  
  
Nearly dropping his paint, Joshua turned around as soon as he heard Max's voice, " Max! You came back!" Joshua picked Max up and squeezed her with all of his might.  
  
"Easy, Joshua," Max smiled. When Joshua didn't put her down, Max added, "I can't breath."  
  
"Sorry, Little Fella," Joshua apologized as he set her back on her feet.  
  
"See buddy, I told you she'd come back someday," Alec came up behind the two. "So'd he see mini-you yet?" he asked Max.  
  
"No, not yet," Max looked around. "Lex!" Max waved her over from the doorway.  
  
When the other transgenics caught sight of Lex, they drew their guns and turned to see who had called out to her.  
  
"Max?" Dix could hardly believe his eyes. "Is that really you?"  
  
"Yup, it's really me," Max smiled. "Now all of you put the guns down. You put so much as a scratch on her and I'll lead the familiars right into this place."  
  
At her mother's threat, Lex strolled in with the other behind her. They Logan and Jondy stayed back against the doorway, but Lex and Cindy went over to Max.  
  
"She invaded Terminal City," Mole pointed to Lex. "She's one of them, she doesn't have a barcode."  
  
"She's not an ordinary, Mole. You saw what she could do," Alec tried to get Mole to lower his gun.  
  
"She beat the hell outta you. A transgenic would never hurt one of their own. Why are you defending her?"  
  
Thinking the situation was a standstill, Lex blurred and grabbed Mole's gun, turning it on him, "Still think I'm an ordinary?" Lex threw the gun on the floor.  
  
"This is my daughter," Max gave as an explanation. "She has my abilities, but no barcode."  
  
"Daughter?" Joshua looked over at Lex. "Looks like you."  
  
"Yeah, she does," Max smiled. "Joshua, this is Lex. Lex, Joshua."  
  
"Hi," Lex was a little unsure but stuck out her hand.  
  
"Lex," Joshua repeated. "Welcome to Terminal City."  
  
'Thanks," a small smile made its way across Lex's lips.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Lex. I'm Dix," Dix came down from the computer station. "Hi Cindy."  
  
When all the introductions were through, Dix cam up to Lex again, "Hey have you met Tera yet?"  
  
"No, who's Tera?" Lex asked.  
  
"Well, she just turned fifteen, but she's really nice. She's Gem's daughter; Gem's an X5," Dix explained. "I just thought being new in Seattle, you might not have met a lot of friends yet."  
  
"I haven't met any yet. Thanks."  
  
"I'll find her so she came come down here and meet you," Dix offered and walked back up the stairs.  
  
Looking at her surroundings, Lex sighed. This was nothing like her life in Niagara Falls, but after her progress with Logan and the prospect of a friend, not to mention one she wouldn't have to hide what she was from, she sat down and smiled as she thought to herself, "This could be good."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Ok, this time there really won't be another chapter for two weeks! Lol. And Max will tell the other transgenics about White's death in the next chapter. I didn't expect to finish this one, but I got so close to the end, I because you guys are so great, I just had to stay up and finish it. Really, it's after midnight and I have to be up at 7:00. So you better leave me tons of reviews to heal my pain. Or leave me virtual coffee, that would nice. Give the purple button some love, and I promise on my Dark Angel posters that I will post a new chapter as fast as I can type when I get home! 


	6. Explain Yourself

A/N: Thank you all for sticking through those agonizing two weeks! Hopefully this chapter will fulfill your expectations. I'm posting as soon as possible, but I'm sure yous know how it is getting back from vacation and having to readjust to a time zone. I also needed to do a little research when I got to a certain point in the chapter. Thank you all for the awesome reviews! You all know by now that more reviews means faster chapters! ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 6: Explain Yourself  
  
"So what's this big announcement you have?" Alec complained to Max, wanting to speed things up. "I could be picking up some girl at Crash right now."  
  
"Will you ever grow up," Max grimaced as she turned and walked up the stairway. "Where's an anvil when you need one?" she mumbled to herself. "Listen up people!" Max shouted to the crowd of transgenics below. "I've got news that'll change things around here, but it might not be for the better. White's dead," she began. As an up roar of cheering and commotion came from everyone below, Max held up her hand for them to stop, "Hold up! I know this sounds good, but it's not. Yeah, we don't have to worry about White and his government goons anymore, but now more then ever we've got the familiars to deal with. You think they're gonna just shrug and forget that White was killed? No, and of course they're gonna blame us. Against them, we don't have the upper hand. We need to be alert and prepared because these bastards won't give up easily. I don't know how long it'll be before they come, but we can't let them win. And when they do show up we're gonna bring them to their knees!"  
  
The transgenics below all hailed and held up their guns with pride. As Max made her way back down, several of them reached out to high five her.  
  
"Hey," Mole stopped Max by grabbing her shoulder. "Thanks, um, for the heads-up," he mumbled grudgingly.  
  
"See Mole, you do care," Alec cooed tauntingly as he came up behind them. Mole just grumbled something unintelligible under his breath and walked away as if he had something more important to do. Alec turned to Max with a laugh-like breath, "When people would go on about missing you, he'd always say that you were trouble and you defended the ordinaries too much; but I knew he kinda missed you, too."  
  
Max shook her head back, "And here I would have expected at least some of you to change over fifteen years."  
  
Across the warehouse, Lex sat on an old couch when Tera came up behind her.  
  
"Hey!" she approached Lex with a warm smile. "I'm Tera. Dix tells me your Max's daughter."  
  
"Yeah, I'm Lex," Lex shook Tera's extended hand.  
  
Tera was about the same height as Lex, with straight brown hair that just brushed the tops of her shoulders. Her emerald green eyes shimmered when the light caught them and Lex smiled at the flamed-printed Superman symbol on her shirt.  
  
"Well welcome to Seattle. It's nice to see another teen around Terminal City."  
  
"There aren't a lot?" Lex was surprised by Tera's comment.  
  
"No I'm the only one left after Riley ran away. He was the only other one my age. His mother was killed in a drive-by when he was six and last year he just said he was sick of this city," Tera let out a depressing sigh. "There are some others who are like, twelve and younger. But hanging out with kids all day can get old fast."  
  
"I know what you mean. But what about that boy's father?" Lex wondered.  
  
"Never came to Seattle after Manticore burned, I guess," Tera shrugged. "And the fire was right after they started the program, so hardly any X5s were pregnant yet," she added.  
  
"Program?" Lex didn't like the sound of that word.  
  
"Yeah, the breeding partner thing." Seeing Lex's confused and appalled expression, Tera explained a little about it, "I'm surprised you of all people don't know about it, but whatever. See, after your mom and some other X5s blew up the DNA lab of the original Manticore, they had to move the facility. And without the DNA of the X series, they couldn't create any new soldiers in test tubes like they had dome with all the rest. So they paired off the X5s to ummm, make new soldiers the old fashion way. That's how my mom got pregnant with me."  
  
"That's sick," Lex grimaced. Suddenly a rather disturbing thought popped into her mind, "Wait, my mom was captured when they blew up the lab. So wouldn't she have been at Manticore then?"  
  
"That's how she and Alec met," Tera winked. "But don't worry, nothing happened between them. I overheard Alec say once that Max kicked him in the crotch and said that was the only kind of contact they were going to have."  
  
Somewhat relieved, Lex laughed, "Yeah, that sounds like my mom. Maybe that has something to do with why she hates him."  
  
As Max and Jondy mingled with the rest of the crowd, Lex and Tera spent the evening talking, and finding that they had a lot in common. Once, Max looked over at her daughter and smiled to herself, thinking that this was the way things should be.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Do you have it?" Grayer Clasin ordered as a man approached him on the dock.  
  
Without a word, the man opened the briefcase he was carrying and spun in around so Clasin could examine its contents.  
  
"It's being called mud dust on the streets. Asians pay up to $100 a pop," the man began to talk.  
  
"What's in it?" Clasin demanded.  
  
"PCP with a lot of its byproduct. There's THC and crack mixed in, too. The guy I got it from says users call it mud dust because it turns dark brown with you burn it."  
  
"Well if you burn it where are the needles to shoot it up?" Clasin asked when he didn't see any in the briefcase.  
  
"It don't work like that. That shit stays like powder, but if you burn it, you get a better high," the man adjusted his over-sized parka as an omniscient smirk spread across his face.  
  
"How much?" Clasin grabbed the drugs.  
  
"Twenty thou for the whole case."  
  
"Fifteen," Clasin slid a second briefcase towards the dealer.  
  
"No way, man. I need twenty to make a profit," the dealer protested.  
  
Bringing a gun out if a hidden holster, Clasin pointed at the dealer's head, "Fifteen or I walk away with both cases. I'd hate for things to get messy, but either way I still get the drugs in the end."  
  
Shaken, the dealer reached out and took the money Clasin offered, "Aiight, man, aiight."  
  
"We'll be in touch," Clasin leered as the dealer walked back towards the road.  
  
Back on the road, the dealer's accomplice shouted to him, "How much you score?"  
  
"Fifteen," the dealer mocked a small victory dance as he climbed into the front seat.  
  
"How'd you get that fool to pay so much? That shit ain't worth the risk."  
  
"He don't know what it does," the dealer grinned.  
  
"What?! You crazy man? One sniff can kill a brotha dead! You know that!" the second man worried. "And if that shit kills someone, you know that fool's gonna get us!"  
  
"That ain't gonna happen. He's selling them in Asia, and those people'll kill him first," the dealer remarked as they sped off down an alleyway.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So it looks like you and Tera hit it off, huh?" Original Cindy asked Lex at Crash later that night.  
  
After leaving Terminal City, they had decided that they weren't ready to go home quite yet, and pool at Crash seemed like the perfect solution.  
  
"Yeah, she's cool," Lex nodded as she sipped her soda. "At least now I'll have someone to hang out with over the summer."  
  
"Hey, grab a stick," Jondy nudged Lex over towards the rack of pool sticks next to her. "I think I've found someone who could actually kick your ass at pool."  
  
"Really," Lex rolled her eyes at Jondy's proclamation. "And just who would that be?"  
  
"Logan," Jondy turned Lex's attention to the game between Logan and Alec.  
  
"She's right there, little boo," Original Cindy agreed with Jondy. "Boy's got mad skills when it comes to the game. Can whoop even a transgenic's ass."  
  
"Why did you say I'd play him? He couldn't wanna go up against me," Lex smirked as Alec handed Logan a few bills.  
  
"No, but he thinks he's hot stuff after beating Alec. You usually love bursting people's bubbles. Besides, he won't get pissy when you beat him, tack it up father-daughter bonding," Jondy laughed.  
  
"For the record, you set him up to this," Lex shook her head she took a stick next to her. "Care for a real challenge?" her persona changed as she slinked up to the pool table.  
  
"Lex, this isn't play-time," Alec laughed. "People are betting here."  
  
"Good," Lex smiled slyly. "I could use a new carburetor." As Logan and Alec exchanged worried looks, Lex slammed a fifty-dollar bill on the table. "C'mon," she taunted Logan, "I'll even let you break."  
  
Assuming Lex wasn't going to back down, Logan shrugged and rubbed some chalk on the end of his stick, "If you insist."  
  
Logan sunk three balls on his first shot, and casually sunk another two after that. He could have showed off, but he was playing his daughter, after all, so he wanted to keep the game friendly. Lex caught on to his reserved manner and took it upon herself to show that this was no friendly game, and she wanted him to try and beat her.  
  
"And now the real pro steps up," she continued to taunt as she sunk two balls behind her back. Turning to look at the table, she imitated a ditz, "Oh, gee, did those go in? I didn't see that shot."  
  
Logan simply watched in shock as Lex sank ball after ball, being sure to flaunt just how much skill she had. When she scratched a ball on purpose, Logan marched up, intending to show her what a mistake she'd just made. However, it didn't quite work out that as he missed the ball he aimed on his second shot.  
  
"Awww, better luck next time," Lex teased as she sank her last ball on the table. "Now let's see," she dragged out as she lined up her shot at the eight ball, "whoever sinks the eight ball wins, right?" She pulled back on her stick and sunk the eight ball with hardly any effort exerted. "Hmmm, I do believe you owe me fifty bucks," she held out her hand to Logan. He just stared in disbelief as Lex snatched her money out of his hand. "Next victim?" he heard her turn to crowd of onlookers that had gathered around them.  
  
He thought he was pretty good, to say the least; he could beat an X5. And yet he had just had his ass handed to him by a fourteen year old.  
  
"Now ya see what happens when you underestimate people?" Jondy teased as he sat down on the stool next to her. "Just for future reference- Lex doesn't enter any bets that she doesn't know for a fact she'll win."  
  
"Where did she learn to play like that?" Logan shook his head.  
  
"There was a pool table a the rec center across the street from us. She's been screwing kids outta their allowance since she was three," Jondy laughed. "It was actually kinda funny. When she was in kindergarten, she actually had these kids who would go around and hit up the kids who owed her money, like she was a little mob boss. But then, of course her teachers found out and she got banned from the pool table. Max and I would take her to the bar we'd hang out at and she played there, but she wasn't allowed to bet money on any game for a year."  
  
Logan laughed as an image of a five-year-old Lex eating pasta with a cigar and a brandy popped into his head, "So I guess she was always this cunning?"  
  
"That's our girl," Jondy grinned back. Suddenly she remembered something, "Oh, remind me when we get back, I have something I wanna show you."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So what's this surprise you've got up your sleeve?" Logan asked as Jondy plundered through the boxes they'd been storing in Lex's room.  
  
"Wait, you do have a DVD player, right?" she didn't answer his question right away.  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"Well, Lex's laptop has one, but the TV screen is bigger. Ah, found them!" Jondy grinned as she unearthed a CD case from under some socks. Walking back towards the living room she started to explain what it was, "Well, I wanna show you these while Max and Lex are still at the Needle cuz they would probably try to stop me."  
  
"What's on the discs?" Logan became curious.  
  
"Well, when Max was pregnant; actually, it turned out to be about a week before she had Lex; we were walking around the flea market in our town. We lived in Nova Scotia at the time. So we pass by this guy's table and there's a DVD camera there. And I'm sure know as well as anyone how few of them there are. Once the Pulse hit, they became impossible to find since they were so new and the price of the existing ones just totally skyrocketed. So I look over this one, and it's a little broken, but nothing I couldn't fix in less than ten minutes and this guy even has two blank DVDs he's selling with it. Now, Max, of course, doesn't want to buy it, even though it was only twenty bucks. But I convinced her to; truth be told the incentive I used to win her over was if she ever saw you again." Logan's head snapped up at that. "See," Jondy continued, "I said that if you two ever did get back together, it wasn't gonna be in the next few days. Lex's cute years would be over and I kept going on about how you would want to see them, and how much better this was than pictures, and how she would appreciate it, too. So we bought, we fixed it, and even though there are only six discs, we made the best of them. This one," she pointed to the first disc in the case, "starts with the day we got the camera, so Max looked like a blimp, and as you go back, they get more recent, up to Lex's last birthday."  
  
"Wow," Logan held the case in his hands, "this is great."  
  
"So where do you want to start?" Jondy smiled at Logan's excitement. "But you gotta at least see the first entry on the second one. If you ask me that's the cutest one of all."  
  
As the two played clip after clip, watching Max yell at Jondy to stop making jokes about pregnant stomach, then Lex at various stages of screaming, crawling, and making Max and Jondy chase her everywhere.  
  
"A one year old with transgenic speed," Logan laughed, "I don't know how you two survived."  
  
"Hey you didn't see her at seven months old. She learned to walk then, but had running down pat in about a week. Now that was hell. Oh, shit they might be back soon," Jondy glanced at the clock and saw it was nearly 1:30 a.m. "Lemme show you the dance quick."  
  
"Dance?" Logan laughed.  
  
"Yeah, don't tell Lex I told you this, but her biggest guilt pleasure has always been, and still is, Cyndi Lauper. She has all her CDs; it's really funny. But when she was two, she had this dance that she made up for 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun', and I filmed it when she was about 2 ½," Jondy said as she loaded the new disc into the DVD player.  
  
Logan just smiled broadly as he watched the clip transpire.  
  
"You ready?" Jondy's voice asked Lex from behind the camera.  
  
The bouncy two-year-old nodded yes, her ponytail whipping around from its place on the side of her head. As the music started, Lex began to dance around, singing along with every word. Her tutu-like skirt and bright purple tights mixed with the jean jacket to look like something that had been taken right out of the 80s.  
  
Just as the song ended, they heard the roar of engines down on the street, "Sounds like they're home," Jondy collected the discs.  
  
Logan tried to control his laughter of little Lex, "Thanks Jondy."  
  
"No problem," Jondy shrugged. "But you still have a lot more to see."  
  
"No, really," Logan smiled softly, "That means a lot."  
  
Understanding how much Logan appreciated seeing those moments for himself, Jondy stood up and hugged Logan, "You're welcome. And just so you know- one way you can tell Lex has officially become comfortable around you is when she starts playing those CDs in her stereo instead of through head phones," Jondy winked. "Hope you like the song 'Sally's Pigeons'," she hinted over her shoulder as the elevator dinged.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Well, there you go. I finally got the chapter up. Yes, I know it took a while, but I had to finish my scrapbook of my trip to Europe before the reunion this weekend in addition to everything else. And then I spent longer than I expected at the orthodontist this morning, but I got my braces off, so it's all good! (Yes, I'm physced about having a straight and metal-free smile!) So, as always, give the purple some love and you'll see another chapter soon! Let me know if you wanna see the next few chapters focused around the EO storyline, more about the gang in Seattle and the lost time between S2 and the story, or more about the familiars. Or do you want them all to have equal writing? I'd really hate to bore you with material you guys don't necessarily wanna read! So thanks in advance for your reviews! 


	7. Now and Then

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I know there wasn't any explanation about the drug trafficking, but there will be in this chapter, and as some of you guessed, it is going to be an Eyes Only plotline. I also had someone notice Logan's sudden hands-off manner when it comes to Max. And yes, that is intentional. It's not meant to torture you guys and it won't be long-term at all, so if anyone else was concerned, don't worry! Pretty soon, chapters may, and probably will, become less frequent, as I will be starting school on Tuesday. Hell, I even got homework at orientation. Which reminds me, I need to get started on that damn essay. But anyway, this'll be my first year up at the high school building (even though I'll be a sophomore), and I don't know what my workload will be like or anything. So through the months of September and October, just bear with me and don't freak out if there is as much as two weeks between new chapters, but rest assured that I won't just leave this story all together. ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 7: Now and Then  
  
"Hey stranger," Max wrapped her arms around Logan's neck as Lex ran into the kitchen ahead of her.  
  
"Hey," Logan returned, a little uneasy.  
  
"So how'd it feel to have your ass handed to you by a teenager?" Max laughed, having heard the story of the pool game from Lex.  
  
"Well, she hasn't beat me at chess yet," Logan remarked.  
  
"Forget your dignity, she can even kick my ass at chess," Max leaned in to kiss him, but he pulled back just her lips brushed his.  
  
"You hungry? There's still leftovers from dinner?"  
  
"Sure," Max agreed. She sensed that something was up, but decided to wait to question him about it until he'd had some sleep; it was the wee hours of the morning, after all.  
  
After they'd all eaten a late midnight snack, Lex headed off to her room and popped a CD and headphones into her laptop. Jondy yawned and followed behind Lex saying that she was going to crash as well.  
  
"You can have the couch if you want," Logan offered.  
  
"No, no, the floor is my friend," Jondy laughed. "Night."  
  
"Really, Logan are you ok?" Max asked as they sat on the couch. "You seem so tense," she worried as she snuggled into him.  
  
"I'm fine," Logan lied, shifting slightly.  
  
"Liar," Max saw through him. Tilting her head to the side, she began to form a trail of light kisses along his jaw. Reveling in the feeling of his scruffy beard beneath her lips, she snaked her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer.  
  
"Max," Logan subtly tried to stop her advances. "You know there are those of us who tend to get tired at three in the morning."  
  
Sighing, Max pulled back, "Yeah, I guess so," she smiled slightly. "I guess I'll crash, too," she curled up in Logan's lap and closed her eyes.  
  
"Right here?" Logan asked.  
  
"Uh-huh," Max mumbled from her half-asleep state.  
  
Yawning for the first time that night, Logan decided that he didn't have the energy to carry Max all the way to their bedroom, and that seemed to be the only way he'd be getting off the couch. Shifting slightly, he moved out of his upright position, but kept on top of him as he closed his eyes.  
  
From her place at on her bed, Lex inwardly sighed to herself. She'd been observing Logan all night and concluded that it was time for another little talk with him when he woke up.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Awww, how cute," Lex's voice startled Logan as he began to open his eyes. Seeing Lex standing above, his cheeks flushed several different shades of red when he felt Max stir on top of him.  
  
"What time is it?" Max mumbled as she stretched herself awake.  
  
"Six," Lex held up her watch. "I started the coffee, it should be ready in a few minutes."  
  
"Good," Max yawned as she stood up and headed for the pot.  
  
Logan went to follow her, but Lex held him down, "Not yet, I need to talk to you."  
  
"Huh? About what?" Logan wasn't sure he was conscious enough to have a coherent conversation this early in the morning.  
  
"Look, I'm fourteen, not four. You don't have to be afraid to talk to Mom just because I might be in earshot," Lex brazenly stated. "It doesn't take a genius to notice that last night you were afraid to even look at her whenever I was around."  
  
"And what makes you think that?" Logan stalled as he tried to think up a believable lie to contradict Lex's accusations.  
  
"The fact that it's true. Alright, lemme put it this way- did your parents sleep in separate rooms when you were growing up?"  
  
"No," Logan slowly answered.  
  
"And did that ever bother you? Let alone, did you even think about it?" Lex crossed her arms.  
  
"Well, no- " Logan started, only to be cut off.  
  
"Exactly. You're not going to make me go blind by sitting next to her," Lex lowered her voice as Max walked by back into the living room. Lex nudged Logan's shoulder with her hip as she walked over to the doorway and took one of the three coffee mugs Max had brought out, "Thanks."  
  
As Lex disappeared back into the kitchen, Max sat back down on the couch. "What was that all about?" she asked Logan with a suspicious smile.  
  
"Nothing," he shrugged. As Max reached down to grab the remote, Logan caught Lex's eyes in the doorway. As he reached draped one arm around Max's shoulders, Lex winked at him and slinked away. "Nothing," he repeated as sipped his coffee.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Later that morning, after Max had left for work, and Lex had left to meet up with Tera, Logan turned on his computers and began reading through his emails. Most he moved into various folders, intending to deal with them later, but there were two that caught his eye. The first one was about the apartment he had been trying to get for Jondy.  
  
"Hey Jondy", Logan called out to her. "Come here for a minute."  
  
Kicking a path through the pile of boxes she had been unpacking in Lex's room, Jondy made her way to Logan's office, "Yeah?"  
  
"Got that apartment for you," Logan printed out the information and handed the email to Jondy.  
  
"Logan, really, you didn't have to do that," she smiled as she read over the paper.  
  
"Yes, I did. Finding a decent place in Seattle is impossible, and this guy owed me anyway."  
  
"Whoa, hold up," Jondy shook her head as she read the description of the place. "Just how am I supposed to afford anything in this sector? I don't even have a job yet."  
  
"You don't have to," Logan answered matter-of-factly. "Like I said, this guy owes me; big. In fact, if I hadn't have helped him out a few years ago, he wouldn't even own the building anymore. So you won't be paying anything, it's yours."  
  
Jondy was speechless as a huge smile spread across her face, After standing frozen for a minute or so, she let out an appreciative squeal, "I think I love you!" she gushed as she laughed and threw her arms around Logan's neck. "When can I go check this place out?"  
  
"Now, if you want. It's two blocks down, third building on the right. The key is waiting for you at the front desk."  
  
"Thank you so much!" Jondy shouted as she grabbed her shoes and ran out the door.  
  
Smiling to himself, Logan closed out that window and moved on to the second email. He hadn't heard from this particular informant for months. And now this seemed to be about a new chapter of the same drug ring he'd been looking for information on. Apparently several emergency rooms in Beijing had been reporting an influx of critical and fatal injuries connected to the use of an unknown drug.  
  
"Ruptured blood vessels, severe nose bleeds, comas, blindness" Logan read through the list in his head. It whatever it was had the same effects as the new drug that was sending Seattle drug addicts to the hospital by the dozens. Sending out an email to all his informants to look for leads on how the drug was turning up in China, Logan shook his head, "Just great, some new bastard trafficking dangerous drugs overseas."  
  
Next he picked up the phone to call Matt Sung, "Hey, Matt; it's Logan."  
  
"Logan, haven't heard from you in while," Matt was glad to hear from him again. "You know, I heard the funniest rumor last week; something about you finding Max again and having a teenager living with you."  
  
"Well, that's true actually. Max is back, and as it turns out we have a daughter together, Lex," Logan still couldn't get used to those words coming out of his mouth.  
  
"You're serious," Matt said in shock, more to himself than to Logan. "Well, I thought that that was just a joke." After a slight pause, he jumped back in, "But I'm guessing that's not why you called me. What can I do for you?"  
  
"I just got an email that suggests some illegal overseas drug trafficking. I wouldn't make a huge deal out of it, but this drug is deadly. It's the same one that's been causing so many deaths in America, Seattle especially, over the past few months," Logan turned the conversation back to business as well.  
  
"And Eyes Only wants me to try and get some cops who might know something to talk?" Matt was familiar with the drill by now.  
  
"You know the informant net too well, Matt," Logan laughed. "Any use of abandoned harbors or unidentified planes, activity in warehouses, those things should give Eyes Only the leads he needs. Thanks for your help."  
  
"No problem. I'll be in touch," Matt nodded and hung up the phone. "Logan with a teenager," he mumbled to himself and laughed. "God help him."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Well what is this? You, on time?" Normal asked in sarcastic shock as Max strode into Jam Pony. "Trying to kiss up now that you came crawling back?"  
  
"No, I just get here faster now that I don't have to pedal my way to work," Max retorted.  
  
"So do I wanna know where the kid is from?" Normal asked; trying to sound disinterested even though the question had been eating away at him since he first saw Lex.  
  
"Since when do you give a crap?" Max took the can of soda sitting out on the counter and popped it open.  
  
"I never expected to see you again in the first place. And to just show up with a kid after fifteen years. I don't think anyone expected that," Normal shifted through some packages.  
  
"Surprise," Max said in a monotone voice as she took a few deliveries and headed out the door, never answering Normal's question.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I still say we should be using a more secluded harbor," one of Clasin's men warned as Clasin cut off a phone call with a contact in Beijing.  
  
"Junior, if you don't have the balls for this you should have stayed home," Clasin polished one of his handguns. "It's your own damn fault if you got yourself in over head. You wanna leave now, you know how it's done," Clasin played with the gun's safety. The man gulped quietly as he tried to swallow his fear. "Now you go line up those dealers again. These Asians are loving whatever shit I sent over there; we're up five grand already. And junior," he called out as the younger man started to walk away, "you wanna keep your ass safe, don't tell anyone about our little operation," Clasin threatened.  
  
Backing out before Clasin had a chance to say anything else, the man left the room to do what he was ordered.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Have you made any progress?" the high priestess asked Senator McKinley as he approached her at their meeting place.  
  
"No, not yet. But I need more time; it hasn't even been three days yet," McKinley begged.  
  
"Work faster; if 452 senses us there's no doubt she'll flee the city and send us on a wild goose chase again," the priestess ordered. "Here is White's file we recovered from his office. I want every location White spotted her in to be under surveillance. Have familiars combing the high school in sector five, too."  
  
"You think that's where the girl would be enrolled?"  
  
"According to the file, that's the sector in which 452 lived and the girl should be fifteen this December. Implying that she'll be freshman in the fall," the priestess said.  
  
"I'll get people on it right away," McKinley nodded.  
  
"You have one week or I call in a new team," the priestess left as an ultimatum. "Fe'nos tol."  
  
"Fe'nos tol," McKinley obeyed. Turning around, he headed for his car, pulling out his cell phone to get to work. Ordering his driver to wait outside, he slid into the back seat and punched his speed dial. "Fe'nos tol," he greeted the woman on the other end. "I need you to watch the enrollment records at your school. You still teach at the high school in sector five, right?"  
  
"Yes, I do," the woman, Anna, answered. "Who are what am I looking for?"  
  
"The conclave has reason to believe that a girl named Alexa Guevara should be coming when school starts again. She's the offspring of 452."  
  
"I'll check and let you know. What's to be done with the girl if I find her?"  
  
"She'd wanted alive, for experiments. If we're fortunate enough for 452 to show up with her someday, the transgenic is wanted alive as well," McKinley explained.  
  
"Very well," Anna made a mental note of her orders. "Fe'nos tol."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Ok, now I'm off to do my homework. As always, please please please leave me a review, even if it's just to you're reading this. Any questions, comments, and nitpicks are also always more than welcome! I will do my absolute best to get chapter eight up as soon as possible, but it might take some time depending on what my teachers decide to dump on me. And how much love the holy purple button is shown. Thank you in advance to all my reviewers! 


	8. In The Heat Of The Night

A/N: The purple button thanks you for showing it some love! In fact it was so happy, it convinced to write this chapter really fast. Thank you all for the awesome reviews! And, see, to me it looks purple. For those of you who are telling me it's light blue- you can do that. But I'm gonna keep saying it's purple because it looks like light purple to me, purple is shorter to type, and I just like the word purple. I figured out that if you say it over and over really fast, it'll start to sound so funny. Julie- yes, Lex is going to be sent to a private school and Max did say that to Original Cindy in chapter two. But the familiars don't know about that. And they don't know that Max isn't in sector five anymore, so that's why they're looking there first. Now that I have my own PC up and running again, well have to wait and see if that helps at all with the speed of chapters. Also, this chapter does stray a bit from the last one. There's no real jumping from plot to plot, but I think you'll enjoy it. Of course, if you don't, let me know that as well. But hopefully you'll like this chapter as much as I do.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter: In The Heat Of The Night  
  
"Hey, Lex?" Tera waved her hand in front of Lex's face. "You there?"  
  
"Huh? Um, yeah, I'm fine," Lex shook her head and returned from her dazed state.  
  
"Are you sure? You look all spacey and it's really starting to freak me out," Tera didn't buy into Lex's façade.  
  
"I, I just have a bit of a headache is all. Maybe I should go home," Lex reasoned as she headed back to where she'd parked her motorcycle. Her next step ahead, Lex stumbled and began to trip over her own feet.  
  
"Whoa!" Tera reached out and caught her, "Lex, I really don't think you should be driving like this. Maybe you should call you Mom or Dad to come get us. I'll walk your bike over here, you sit down," she helped Lex over the wall beside them.  
  
"Yeah, maybe you're right," Lex suddenly started to feel nauseated and had lost all her will to argue.  
  
As soon as Tera was around the corner and out of sight, a man emerged from the shadow of the doorway she and Lex had just passed.  
  
Sneaking up behind Lex, he lunged at her and clapped his hand over her mouth, "What took so long baby? Our little party should have started already," the creep said into her ear as he reached up with his other hand to cup her breast.  
  
Scared and startled, Lex pulled at his arm with all the strength she had left, but in her state, she the power of any normal fourteen year old.  
  
"Don't even think about it, you little whore," the man tightened his grip over Lex's mouth as he brought his hand lower, to the button of her jeans.  
  
Bucking her hips away, Lex started kicking, the pattern of her flailing legs matching the pattern of tears streaming down her cheeks. Struggling to open her mouth as hard as possible, she bit down, but couldn't get a fair amount of the man's skin between her teeth. As he began to drag her back into the doorway he'd come out of, Lex opened her eyes long enough to spot a trash can next to the entrance. In passing it by, she flung her legs at it as hard as she could. A clash rang out through the alleyway, but she didn't succeed in knocking the can over as she'd hoped.  
  
Down the next alley, Tera's heightened hearing perked up at the sound of the crash. Her stomach intuitively tying itself in knots, she turned around and walked back towards the alley. As she got closer, she concentrated on what sounded like muffled cries.  
  
"What the fuck you think you're trying to do?" Tera heard a man's voice angrily grumble, followed by a cracking sound. Bolting around the corner as fast her legs could carry her, Tera saw the man groping Lex as he dragged her kicking figure into the doorway.  
  
"Lex!" Tera screamed as she charged at the man. Putting her transgenic training to use, she jumped up and connected the heel of her sneaker with the man's face, knocking him into the concrete doorframe and rendering him unconscious. "Lex!" Tera shouted to her friend when she looked down and saw Lex wasn't moving. "Lex, wake up!" she shook her. "Somebody? Anybody, help!"  
  
A sector cop who'd been checking for drug dealers heard Tera's desperate calls and followed them, expecting to see yet another drug deal gone bad. Shining the light of his gun in the direction of the voice, he saw the two girls on the ground next to a man who wasn't moving. Running over to them, he began to suspect something else had happened, "Miss, what's going here?"  
  
"I, I don't really know," Tera stammered. "She started getting spacey and then I said she shouldn't drive so she sat down and I went to get her bike and she was gonna call her mom to come get us, but then before I got to the bike, I heard a crash, so I came back and I heard screaming and him cursing at her and she was kicking, so I kicked him, but then she wasn't moving anymore and she's not waking up," Tera let out all in one breath.  
  
"All right, just calm down," the cop set his gun down facing the man. He called the paramedics and told Tera to watch and make sure Lex didn't stop breathing. "Now does she have a cell phone?"  
  
"Yeah, it's right here," Tera fished it out of Lex's pocket.  
  
"Ok, good. You call her parents and let them know what happened. Or would you rather I talk to them?"  
  
Handing the phone over to the cop, Tera swallowed hard, "You could try redial, but I don't know their number."  
  
"Ok, you stay here with your friend. What's her name?"  
  
"Lex. Lex Guevara," Tera answered.  
  
Walking a few yards away to make the call, the cop hit redial and listened as he got a ring on the other end.  
  
"Hello?" a woman's voice answered.  
  
"Ma'am, this is Sergeant Kelmer of the Seattle Sector Police. Am I speaking to the mother of Lex Guevara?"  
  
"No, you're speaking to her aunt," Jondy got defensive. "What's going on? Is Lex ok?"  
  
"I'm afraid not, ma'am. I'm not entirely sure what went down, but a man attempted to capture and rape her. She's blacked out, so I believe she was drugged at some point tonight and he had been following the two girls, waiting for the right moment to make his move." Kelmer told her.  
  
Jondy couldn't believe what she was hearing. Falling back against the wall of Lex's room, she slid down to the floor and tried to comprehend what she'd just been told, "Where is she now? And what about Tera, is she alright?"  
  
"Tera's the friend?" Kelmer gathered. "She's shaken up over what happened, but she's fine. She says she had left Lex alone at the time of the attack. Now, could you please give me the number where I could reach Lex's parents?"  
  
"I'm with her parents, hold on. You talk to them," Jondy raced out to the living room. Putting her hand over the receiver of her cell phone, Jondy held it out to Max, "It's important," was all she could manage to say as Max took the phone from her. Jondy watched Max's face fall and pale as Sergeant Kelmer relayed the same story to Max.  
  
"Where are you?" Max demanded. "We're coming down there." As she ran into the office to get Logan, Jondy grabbed her keys and headed down to the garage. She knew Logan would take his car, so she took it upon herself to be the first one there.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Metro Medical  
  
Max, Jondy, and Logan all waited in the lobby while Lex was in the ER. Tera had been allowed to go with them to the hospital and was now over the far corner being questioned by detectives.  
  
"She'll be ok, Max," Jondy tried to comfort her sister. From the moment Logan had arrived, Max had curled up in his lap and not said a word. "Lex is a strong girl, you know that."  
  
Shaking her head slowly, Max finally spoke in a low voice, "It's not something you get over. Ever."  
  
"You don't know that Max," Jondy reached out to hold Max's hand.  
  
Max only pulled her hand away and curled up into an even tighter ball, "Yes I do."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Logan didn't like the tone of Max's voice.  
  
After a minute or so of silence, Max began to whisper, "Lucy's father. He'd do that to both of us."  
  
"Lucy? Lucy, Lucy," Logan silently searched his mind. He knew he's heard the name before. Then it hit him- Max's foster sister. She'd mentioned her when they'd first met; the night Logan found out about Max's seizures.  
  
"What?!" Jondy fought to keep her voice down but her eyes went wide. "Sweetie, why didn't you say that before?"  
  
"Max, how could you have let him do that to you? Why didn't you stop him?" Logan pulled her back to face him.  
  
Wiping her watery eyes, Max whispered, "It's not something I like to talk about. And was just trying to be a normal kid. How was I supposed to know what normalacy was?"  
  
Now wanting to push it any further, he just let Max resume her previous position. Hugging her tightly to his body, he gently kissed the top of her head and ran his finger through her hair.  
  
"Excuse me? You're Lex Guevara's parents?" a young nurse asked as she came into the lobby.  
  
"Yes, is she ok? Where is she?" Max could hardly keep up with her own tongue.  
  
"She'll be just fine. Luckily her friend over there turned back before she was raped," the nurse said. "She's not awake yet, and I don't know exactly how much longer she'll be out. The one thing that jumped out at me was the results of her blood test."  
  
"Was there a problem?" Logan tightened his grip on Max's hand, fearing the nurse would say something about transgenics next.  
  
"Surprisingly enough, it doesn't seem to be. She was drugged; the creep used LSD, the classic pre-pulse date rape wonder. But what had the doctors worried was that the amount of LSD in her system was more than three times the amount it should take to kill someone of her height and weight."  
  
"But she's gonna be alright?" Jondy stood up, also relieved that they seemed to think Lex was just a normal girl.  
  
"Yeah, you can go back and see her now. But like I said, she's pretty much out cold," the nurse began to lead them back through the set of double doors.  
  
"Hold on!" someone called behind them. "I think there's someone else who's like to join you," the man pointed his thumb towards Tera as she headed towards the group. "I'm Detective Reimers from the Seattle PD. I just wanted to let you know that we have the perv who did this to your daughter. After he was treated, some of the boys took him down to the station. We were able to figure out that your daughter was drugged between 9:30 and 10:00 tonight when she and her friend stopped for sodas in China town. The guy must have slipped some in when she wasn't looking. Then he followed them until he saw her start to get spacey and when she was left alone, he saw his perfect moment. But rest assured, this guy will go away for a long time; he's got a record long enough to last the rest of his natural life."  
  
"Thanks detective. We appreciate it," Logan shook Reimers hand before they passed through the doors the nurse was holding open.  
  
"Oh, it looks like there's still a doctor in there with her," the nurse said when she saw the door to Lex's room was closed. "You can't take a seat across from the door, it shouldn't be long," she pointed to bench against the wall as she walked away.  
  
As they all sat down to wait, Tera squeaked, "I'm sorry."  
  
"About what?" Max turned to her.  
  
"This. What happened. It's my fault."  
  
"What makes you think that?" Jondy put an arm around Tera's shoulders.  
  
"Easy, I was the one who left her alone," Tera tensed up.  
  
"Honey, this isn't your fault at all. The whole reason you had Lex sit down is because you didn't think she could walk or dive without passing out," Jondy reassured her.  
  
"She's right," Max smiled slightly. "You should be proud you turned back when you did, Tera or." Max stopped herself right there.  
  
Knowing why Max stopped, Logan reached out and began gently rubbing her shoulder.  
  
At that moment, the doctor came out of Lex's room, "I assume you're Lex's family?"  
  
"Yeah, can we see her now?" Jondy tried to look in the door while it was closing.  
  
"Of course, but she won't be waking up for a while. It took a while to finish the de-tox and that really wore her out. But amazingly enough, she should be fine by tomorrow morning."  
  
"Thanks, uh, Dr. Marlin," Max said, reading the nametag on his lab coat.  
  
Giving a small smile and nodding, Dr. Marlin began walking down the hall, "You can have an hour in there, but that's it. We're not even supposed to allow visitors past 5:00. The nurse you met before will come check on her every hour and we'll give you a call as soon as she wakes up."  
  
Walking into the room, they all silently took a place beside Lex's bed. Max and Jondy reached out and each held one of her hands and placed her hand on Lex's arm next to Jondy. Logan sat down next to Max, but was almost afraid to touch Lex. What scared him even more was when Lex woke up. How was he supposed to act? What was he supposed to say?  
  
But looking at the pallor on his usually vibrant daughter's face filled him with only one dominant thought, "Eyes Only is gonna make that sick son of a bitch pay."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: So, did you like it? To be honest, I didn't intend for this chapter to even happen at all. I just started and wanted to make there be say, a fight or something when Lex and Tera were out. Then that turned into maybe having a boy hit on Lex, but once I started typing, that story just came out of my fingertips. And when I strated to go back and read it, I thought it was more interesting. Then all of a sudden, it was six pages long. But please tell me what you thought about this because it doesn't follow the structure of my other chapters at all. And if you want I could start focusing more on one core plot per chapter instead of jumping between them all. It's up to you- if you show the great purple button some love, that is. 


	9. To Tell The Truth

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the reviews! I'm glad I got such a good response for the last chapter; I was a little worried about how you guys would like it. Now I have to ask you all to bear with me, for the fifty-millionth time, as my damn computer broke, again, for the 7th time in just this month. This time it was the switch on the monitor. Hopefully once it gets fixed again, I'll have more time to write. And as expected I've had about two or more grueling hours of homework every night, so when the next chapter will come, I'm not sure. But you all know what a royal bitch school can be. I'm doing my best because I know how much I hate having to wait for the next chapter of a fic to go up.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 9: To Tell The Truth  
  
Foggle Towers  
  
Logan stood at the threshold of Lex's room, taking in each and every one of his daughter's possessions. Her laptop had been left open on her bed, with the headphones still plugged in and several open jewel cases next to it. The half-unpacked boxes left her clothes and books scattered in various areas of the floor and closet.  
  
"Penny for your thoughts," Max came up next to him and snaked an arm around his waist.  
  
Sighing, Logan leaned into her and placed a gentle kiss on her temple, "I was just. looking."  
  
Resting her head on his shoulder, Max knew exactly what he meant.  
  
"You know, I remember the day Lex was born, I just sat up all night holding her," Max remembered aloud, feeling the need to think of happier times. "I was so scared that all of a sudden, I had this tiny little person who came into the world thinking that everything was ok. I missed you so much right then; even more than any time in when I was pregnant. Even though I had Jondy and a baby, I just felt so alone knowing that you were back here; you didn't even know Lex existed and I couldn't get over that. And then she woke up and grasped my finger with her soft little hand and just. looked up at me with those eyes, smiling and cooing. I started to cry and I lifted her to my shoulder to hug her. But she hugged me back; she put her little arms around my neck and just kept cooing as if she knew what I was thinking and was trying to tell me that everything was all right. Maybe it was just some baby-instinct thing, I don't know. But I just couldn't believe something so loving and innocent could have come out of me. And now after tonight, it's like that innocence was taken away. Like she knows that everything isn't ok. I just never wanted her to know any of the pain I did," Max choked out.  
  
Turning her towards him, Logan held her as close as possible, "Shhh, we'll get through this. That bastard won't get away with anything he did."  
  
"Logan, you know as well as anyone that there are too many corrupt politicians in Seattle to promise that."  
  
"I think Eyes Only can take care of it," he looked in Max's eyes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Metro Medical  
  
"Well, well, look who's up," the nurse remarked as Lex groaned and opened her eyes. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Oh just peachy," Lex snapped as she tried to shield her eyes from the bright florescent lights.  
  
"I guess I'll call you parents now to tell them your awake," she ignored Lex's sarcasm.  
  
"Huh? No, wait!" Lex attempted to sit up. "I mean- I just wanna be alone for a little bit. I'll, uh, shout for you later."  
  
"Hun, your family will want to see you, but they'll have to wait until the morning anyway. The hospital won't allow visitors until 8:00 in the morning," the nurse informed Lex.  
  
"You don't know my mom and my aunt. No matter what you say, they'll be in this room before you're sad excuses for security guards have a chance to look up from their doughnuts. I'm still tired, too; it was probably just the lights that woke me up," Lex quickly tacked that lie on the end, seeing no other way to keep the nurse away from the phone. "Plus, if I'm still sleeping you may as well let my family get whatever sleep they are," she pushed her luck a little. Faking a yawn, she laid her head back down, "Could you kill the lights, please?"  
  
Sighing, but taking Lex's word, the nurse hit the light switch and headed out the door. As soon as she was down the hall, Lex stood up and grabbed the IV rack next to her bed.  
  
Making her way over to her jacket, in the chair where Max had left it, she dug her cell phone out of her pocket and laughed to herself, "Sucker." Walking back to her bed, Lex glanced up at the clock on the wall, "2:37 a.m.," she thought in her head, "Please pick up; pick up, pick up," she tried to send the telepathic message as she hit speed dial.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Boston, Massachusetts  
  
Hearing the shrill ring tone of her cell phone next to her bed, Kayla groaned and cracked her eyes open just long enough to cast a glance over at her alarm clock.  
  
"Who the hell would call me at twenty to six?" she thought as she blindly searched her cluttered desk with her hand until she located the phone. Looking at the caller ID, she groaned again and let her head fall back down on her pillow, "Do the words "time difference" mean anything to you?" she mumbled as she positioned the phone between the pillow and her ear.  
  
"You know I wouldn't call now if it wasn't important," Lex smiled at the sound of Kayla's voice on the other end.  
  
"Waking me up before six a.m.? You better have damn well resurrected Vin Diesel."  
  
"Well, I didn't quite pull that off, but I really need to talk to you."  
  
"Alright," Kayla yawned. "But if I fall asleep, don't hold it against me."  
  
"I almost got raped tonight," Lex blurted out, not knowing how else to start off the conversation.  
  
"Lex that's not funny," Kayla warned. When Lex said nothing in rebuttal, the truth dawned on her and her eyes became wide open, "Oh my god, sweetie, you're not kidding! Are you ok? What happened? Where are you now?"  
  
"I'm alright, I guess and I'm at the hospital," Lex started to relay what she could remember of the story to her best friend.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Foggle Towers  
  
Rushing in the penthouse's double doors, Original Cindy looked around for Max and Logan, "Boo? Logan? Where are you two?"  
  
"Cindy!" Max ran out to hug her best friend. "Still no call, but at least she's safe."  
  
"Well, you know damn straight Original Cindy won't be getting' any sleep after hearin' what happened to baby boo."  
  
"Yeah, I can relate," Max hung her head. "I'm gonna join Jondy in front of the TV. You know, beats tearing my hair out. I'd rather not let my mind wander right now."  
  
"You're in good company there," Original Cindy nodded. She walked over to Logan and giving him a hug as well, "How 'bout you?"  
  
"I think I'll get some stuff done on the computer, actually," Logan hugged her back.  
  
"Well there's a big surprise," Jondy passed them by.  
  
When she emerged from the kitchen again with a can of soda, Max and Cindy followed her into the living and Logan backtracked to his office. Picking up the phone, he placed a call to Matt Sung to find out more on the perp. Eyes Only would need to a lot more information before he made his first move.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Terminal City  
  
"No, no, she's alright," Tera tried to carefully pick her words for Joshua. "A bad man tried to hurt her tonight, but she's ok now."  
  
"Lex is ok," Joshua repeated. He'd gotten worried and started asking questions when overheard Tera say something to Gem about Lex being in the hospital. "Doctors will make her better."  
  
"That's right," Tera reached out and patted his shoulder. "That's right, Joshua," she repeated. "She'll be all better really soon, you'll see."  
  
"Little Fella is sad?" Joshua asked. "And Logan and Cindy and Jondy sad, too?"  
  
"Yup, they're all sad. But don't you worry, Big Fella, they'll all be ok," she gave Joshua a hug. Watching his face twist as he tried to process his thought, Tera got up, "I'm gonna go home now, I'll see ya tomorrow, ok?"  
  
"Night, Tera. You don't be sad, too," Joshua said as Tera walked towards the door.  
  
Smiling slightly at his words, Tera turned and waved, "I'll try. You don't be sad."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Metro Medical 8:25 a.m.  
  
"Seriously, Mom, I'll be fine," Lex assured Max as they walked out of the automatic doors to the parking lot along with Logan, Jondy, and Original Cindy.  
  
"Are you sure? You'll be alone all day," Logan questioned. "I have meetings with informants until late tonight."  
  
"And I have job interviews," Jondy backed him up.  
  
"I'll be fine. All I need is my laptop and a TV," Lex reiterated to them. "Plus, if I really do get bored I can always just hook up some video games or something." Turning to each of the adults, she dished out her orders, "You two, go to work," she told Max and Original Cindy. "Aunt, Jondy, go to your job interviews. And you," she turned to Logan, "go to whatever meetings you have to. I'm perfectly capable of entertaining myself."  
  
Looking to one another, the four adults considered what Lex had said. Finally, as they reached the car, Max put an arm around Lex's shoulders and yielded to her wishes, "Alright, honey, if you're sure."  
  
"I'm sure. And thanks for bringing my bike," Lex took her keys from Max. "I'll call you if I need anything." Attaching her new key to the penthouse onto her key chain, Lex started the engine and headed back home.  
  
Coming up behind Max, Logan sighed, "She's as independent as you are."  
  
Leaning into him, Max shook her head, "Don't remind me. How late you think you'll be out tonight?"  
  
"I don't know. Probably until 10:00 or so. Why?"  
  
"Just so I know whether or not I'll have to get reacquainted with Seattle's pizza delivery guys," Max answered.  
  
"Mmmm, how well?" Original Cindy teased, referring to the 'incident' with Rafer.  
  
"Oh, look, we're gonna be late for work," Max quickly quipped as she glared at Cindy and pointed to her watch.  
  
Logan couldn't help but to laugh at the look in Max's eyes as she headed over to her bike without breaking her stare at Cindy.  
  
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Jondy was utterly confused. When she got no answer from Max or Original Cindy before they headed off, she turned to Logan, "C'mon, what was that about?"  
  
Putting his hands up defensively, Logan shook his head, "Ask your sister. I'm not saying anything."  
  
"And just why not?" What's so bad about pizza?"  
  
"Again, don't ask me. Whatever I say, I'll end up getting in trouble for," Logan tired not laugh again as he got into his car. "I'll see you later, Jondy."  
  
"Fine, be that way. But I'll find out from one of you sooner or later," she stuck her tongue out as she gunned her engine and headed home to get ready for her first interview of the day with a motorcycle shop in sector seven.  
  
In his car, Logan reached for his cell phone as he back out of his parking space. Dialing the number without even having to looking at the keypad, he waited for the other end to pick up. "Hey, Sam," he said when Dr. Carr answered.  
  
"Logan, hi. You pick your daughter up this morning?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm just leaving now. Look, I need you to go and pull her file. Same deal as Max, don't wanna leave any tracks because the familiars were using her to get to Max back in Canada," Logan explained.  
  
"No problem. I'm glad she's ok. I looked in on her once when she was asleep; I still can't over how much she looks like Max," Sam said.  
  
"Try talking to her. She acts just like Max, too."  
  
"Sounds like you'll have your hands full," Sam laughed. "Oh, and before I forget to tell you, we've had six more deaths from that drug Eyes Only had been tracking. Just though he'd want to know."  
  
"I'll tell him. Thanks Sam."  
  
"This stuff's deadly; anything Eyes Only can turn up to get rid of it helps the whole country. I'll talk to you soon, I've got a patient coming in," Dr. Carr said.  
  
"I'll let you of any developments, Sam," Logan turned off his phone.  
  
When he arrived at the restaurant he'd been told to meet the informant at, he checked around the outside first. He'd been left a cryptic massage a few days before. The person had said they needed to talk to him and had some information he should know about. It wasn't an informant Logan usually talked to, and they didn't leave a name either, but the voice was somehow familiar. He knew the voice from somewhere and the person's name was right at the tip of his brain, but simply refused to surface. After he didn't see anyone waiting around out there, he decided to go inside. Logan glanced around at the tables until he saw a familiar face and the last pieces to the puzzle fell into place.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Ok, I know I told some people this would be up by Friday, but between school and getting sick with whatever flu bug is hiding in my locker, I couldn't get over my writer's block. And then, of course, I come on and find out about all the changes going on around here. Anywhoo. Thank you all so much for the reviews! You know by now how much of a review junkie I am. And yes, I know this chapter is a cliffhanger of sorts, but give the newly made-over purple button some love and I will do my absolute best to get the next chapter up within a week. I have most of chapter played out in my head and I have day off tomorrow. Now all I need is the motivation to take advantage of all my free time. 


	10. My Hero

A/N: Yes, I know I am evil for leaving a cliffhanger, but it's probably not what you were expecting. Hell, truth be told, it's not even an informant. Thank you all for the reviews! I mean it when I say you're all great! Maria- You wanna see Vin again? Of course you do. So you'd better not make me yell at you anymore. tag! And everybody hope my computer gets better; he went to the PC doctor today. But if he doesn't get better (and stay better for more than a whole week), I'll be forced to kick his mechanic ass.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
  
Chapter 10: My Hero  
  
"I knew the only way to get you here was to make it sound like work," the young woman laughed with a cheery smile as Logan approached the table.  
  
"Brittany?!" Logan could hardly recognize his now twenty one year old niece.  
  
"Well it's nice to see you, too. Sit down, I know I've got you trapped for a few hours, so it's no use trying to run off," she motioned to the seat across from her.  
  
"But what are you doing here? I mean, it's great to see you, but I thought you went off to college in London," Logan took off his coat and sat down.  
  
"I did," Brittany confessed. "Didn't like it that much, though. I just couldn't get used to living in a non-apocalyptic world. Go figure; I thought life without gas lines, blackouts, and half rotten produce would be more enjoyable," she laughed.  
  
"So you came back to Seattle?" Logan was still surprised. Most people would jump at the chance to escape the US, Seattle especially.  
  
"I applied to Delmonte and I got in," Brittany beamed.  
  
"Delmonte? That new private university?"  
  
"Yup, that's it," she nodded. "I was nervous I wouldn't get in, but I guess I got lucky."  
  
"Wow, congratulations. I heard they had a ton of applicants. Did you start there yet?" Logan asked.  
  
"Well, the fall semester doesn't start for another month, but I moved back here last week."  
  
"I couldn't imagine someone wanting to come back to Seattle, but it looks like you're off to a good start," Logan shook his head.  
  
When he didn't offer any updates on his life, Brittany sighed and jump- started the conversation again, "Uncle Logan, this is the part where you tell me what's up with you."  
  
"Oh, right," Logan tried to collect himself. "Um, ok, do you remember Max? A friend of mine you met once?" Logan awkwardly breeched the subject. Even though this wasn't exactly like having to face Aunt Margo, he still hadn't told any of his relatives about Lex yet. As Brittany silently searched her memory, Logan shook his head, dismissing his previous question, "Never mind, you were only six then- "  
  
"No, no, no," Brittany cut him off, "I think I do. Really pretty, brown hair, bribed me out of that fort with cupcakes," she smiled at the last thought as she described Max.  
  
Though surprised she remembered Max, Logan was glad. That made explaining the largest change in his life slightly easier, "Oh, good, you do. Well, we'd known each other for a while and we weren't exactly just friends- "  
  
"Sorry to cut you off again, but you're killing me here," Brittany interjected. "Lemme fill in the blanks since your tongue obviously doesn't want to. Either she was your friend who you ended up sleeping with and are now married to or have kids with, or she was your girlfriend all along and now you're married and/or have kids." At Logan's shocked stare, she rested her chin in her hand, "I may have been six then, but now I'm a little older."  
  
"Right, right. Ok, I haven't told anyone yet, so I guess, well, you were on the right track. It's complicated, but the day after Max and I finally, um, got to be more than just friends, someone came after her, someone she'd been running from, and she had to leave the city. I didn't know where she went, hell, she didn't even know where she was going, but I hadn't heard from her since she'd left. Then I got a call from this guy who said he knew where she was and how to take care of the guy on her back, so I agreed to help him. That landed me in Canada, and well, turns out that Max and I have a daughter together. Who's now fourteen," Logan tried to tell a watered- down version of what had happened. He couldn't give out any details about what had happened, but bereft of them he had to admit the story didn't make much sense.  
  
"Wait, who was after her and why? And when did all this happen?"  
  
"I can't tell you who was after her. It's not something she likes to talk about and she's still not quite out of the woods. But it wasn't her fault she had to leave; she didn't want to. And the reason she couldn't contact me was because if she did, the people would have inevitably found out where she was and where I was, which would have resulted in both of us being killed," Logan tried explain. "And I found them about six weeks ago."  
  
"Well where are Max and the girl now?" Brittany was disappointed, but something in Logan's voice told her that he meant it when he said those people were dangerous.  
  
"Max is at work, she got her old job back. Our daughter, Lex, is at home. They moved back here last week."  
  
"Damn," Brittany leaned back and shook her head. "And here I only expected to hear things about work and computers."  
  
"You're not alone," Logan assured her. "I still can't get this whole dad- thing right."  
  
"Well that's not on you. Trust me, even if you'd seen this girl every day since birth, she'd still hate you and ignore everything you said. It's what teenagers do," Brittany laughed. After a beat, she shot back up from her slumped position, "Wait, when you said you hadn't told anyone yet, would that include Aunt Margo?"  
  
"Yes," Logan warily answered. "I haven't seen her in about a year."  
  
Grabbing his arm, Brittany's face twisted into an insidious smile, "Can I please be there when you tell her? Please?"  
  
"I guess so," Logan shrugged. "When's the gathering I'll be guilted into showing up at?"  
  
"I'd go with Shira's debutant ball in December," Brittany nodded.  
  
"Shira?" Logan shook his head.  
  
"Hello? Bennet and Maryanne's daughter?" Brittany couldn't believe Logan forgot about her. "My god, it was only the biggest thing to hit the Cale family since you not going into business. Turned out Maryanne was three months pregnant when they got married, remember?"  
  
"Well of course I remember that, I just forgot her name," Logan tried to defend himself.  
  
"How could forget a name like Shira?" Brittany gibed at him. "But anyway, she'll be sixteen in October so she gets that damn ball. It's gonna be on December 13th and you know you'll have to go."  
  
"Ok, December it is then," Logan sighed.  
  
The two continued to talk until Logan saw he had to leave for his next meeting, this time a real informant. Bidding goodbye, they'd set up for Brittany to come over for dinner the next night. Pulling out of the parking lot, Logan decided to stop by home first. He and Brittany had had a long talk about teenagers, and he wanted to check in on her anyway.  
  
"I'll just get her a pizza for lunch, make it look like that," he told himself. "Either way, food will have to get me in her good graces."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Foggle Towers  
  
"Lex?" Logan called out as he walked into the penthouse. "Where are you?"  
  
"In here," Lex called out from the living room.  
  
"What are you watching?" Logan knew he recognized the movie on TV from somewhere.  
  
"Ancient movies," Lex answered. "The cinematography is so bad, it's entertainment in itself."  
  
"What's this one called? It looks familiar."  
  
"The Goonies. One time I saw something about it at this flea market, but I don't what the person was trying to sell it for. It was some big, bulky square thing," Lex shrugged.  
  
"You mean a VHS tape?" Logan cringed, suddenly feeling old.  
  
"That was a VHS tape? Huh, guess I have seen everything then. Is there something you needed?"  
  
"Um, well, I was getting hungry and just wondering if you wanted a pizza for lunch," Logan covered.  
  
"Nice try," Lex saw right through him. "I know an excuse to check up on me when I see one."  
  
"Oh," Logan shrugged. "Ok, well, I guess I'll see you later, then," he turned to walk out of the penthouse.  
  
"Whoa, hold on," Lex reached out and grabbed for him. "At point did I say I didn't want that pizza?"  
  
"So I don't get kicked out?" Logan smiled.  
  
"Large, extra cheese, ground beef, and olives," Lex placed her order. "And get something for yourself, too."  
  
"At least you've got an appetite," Logan sighed and pulled out his cell phone.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
7:24 P.M.  
  
"So how'd it go with the informants?" Max asked Logan as the three sat around the table eating dinner.  
  
"Good, I got what I had hoped for. But the first meeting wasn't with an informant."  
  
"Then who the hell was it with?" Max inquired.  
  
"You remember me niece Brittany, right?"  
  
"Eyes Only's match, how could I forget?" Max laughed, remembering how Logan had begged her to help him watch the little girl.  
  
"Well, she's twenty-one now and she just moved back here from London. I invited her over here for dinner tomorrow night," Logan ignored Max's comment.  
  
"You have a niece?" Lex joined in the conversation.  
  
"She's my cousin's kid, but she's always called me Uncle Logan," he said.  
  
"So did she spill any dirt on your relatives?" Max asked.  
  
"Not dirt, but she did beg to be there the next time we see Margo."  
  
"Who's Margo?" Lex fell back into her clueless role.  
  
"The spawn of Satan," Max quipped before Logan had a chance to answer.  
  
"Max." Logan crossed his arms.  
  
"Oh, please. It's not like you're fond of the snooty bitch either," Max challenged.  
  
"She's my aunt," Logan turned to Lex. "And she's not that bad, she just acts the way all rest of the blue-collar, upper crust world does."  
  
"Why do I get the feeling this is a two-way street?" Lex joked to Max.  
  
Logan took that question, "She came with me to my cousin's wedding; when Margo and my Uncle Jonas came over to go through their usual when-will-get- a-real-job routine, Jonas said to Max that if she was there with me she was probably a liberal, too and thought he was talking out of his hat. So she says to him, "Not unless you wear your hat on your ass". Needless to say, they didn't speak to me for the rest of the night."  
  
Bursting out laughing, Lex nearly choked on her pasta. "Good one," she punched Max on the shoulder.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
July 15, 2036  
  
"So where's this daughter of yours?" Brittany gave Logan a hug as she walked into the penthouse.  
  
"In here somewhere," Logan closed the door behind her. "Max is in the kitchen."  
  
"No I'm not," Max walked out into the foyer. "Damn, now I feel old," she shook her head when she saw Brittany.  
  
"Well you don't look any different than I remember," Brittany extended her arms to Max.  
  
"No cupcakes this time," Max laughed and returned the hug.  
  
"Dammit, I thought that one was a lock," Brittany feigned disappointment.  
  
"I'll go find Lex," Logan walked past them as they headed into the kitchen for drinks.  
  
"I think she's in her room hooking up her TV," Max called after him.  
  
Knocking on her door, Logan opened it at Lex's request, "Brittany's here," he told her. "And what are you doing?"  
  
Lex was hanging over the back of her desk; one leg sticking straight up and the other wrapped around the edge of a shelf. Reaching out a hand and pulling herself up so that her head was visible, she took a deep breath, "Hooking my TV up to my laptop. If I get a line running between them, I can pick up all my old channels through the websites. Which is good because channel twenty-seven is playing a Law & Order: SVU-a-thon tomorrow night."  
  
"Well, whenever you untangle yourself, come on out," Logan tried not to laugh at the position she was in.  
  
"Sure; just give me a minute. My hair's caught in the outlet."  
  
"Need any help?" Logan offered.  
  
"Actually yeah. Could you grab my foot; the one around the shelf?" When she felt Logan take her ankle, she lowered herself down a little further and tugged at her hair until it came free. Reaching around, she pulled herself up and turned around, "Thanks," she sat up on top of the desk. Grabbing her remote, she turned on the TV, "Success!" she shouted as she flipped though the channels, every one coming in clear. Soothing out her hair with her fingers, she pulled on her sweatshirt jacket and headed towards the door, "Where to?"  
  
"Kitchen," Logan followed. Hearing the oven timer go off, Logan checked his watch, "Dinner's ready, and right on time."  
  
"Good, I'm starving," Lex's stomach in agreement as she turned into the kitchen.  
  
"You are your mother's daughter," Logan laughed. "Lex, this is my niece Brittany. Brittany, this is Lex."  
  
"Hey," Lex smiled quickly as she hopped up on the counter and picked at the bowl of salad.  
  
"Oh my god," Brittany laughed. "She looks nothing like you!"  
  
"Thank you Captain Obvious," Lex laughed as she threw olives in the air and caught them in her mouth.  
  
"Alexa!" Max threatened through her teeth.  
  
"Sorry," Lex's apology was albeit mechanic and blasé.  
  
"You know, I have a t-shirt that says that," Brittany laughed.  
  
"Me, too," Lex smiled, deciding that Brittany was someone she could come to like.  
  
"So what do you think of the US so far?"  
  
"It could be worse," Lex shrugged.  
  
Later that night, as Lex and Brittany sat on the couch watching TV, Brittany turned to her, "Hey have you picked a school yet?"  
  
"No, I haven't started looking. Why?" Lex shook her head.  
  
"All the good ones tend to fill up early. If you haven't applied by the end of July, you shouldn't count on getting into most of them."  
  
"Oh," Lex's face fell. "Well, which ones are the good ones?"  
  
"Depends, what do you want?"  
  
"Non-religious, no uniforms, edible cafeteria food, and six-day weekends," Lex answered frankly.  
  
"Who doesn't want six-day weekends?" Brittany laughed. "But where I went covers everything else; Cedar Ridge."  
  
"It hard to get into?"  
  
"Register yourself as Alexa Cale, and you won't have any trouble, even if you apply late."  
  
"What's the big deal about a damn last name, anyway?" Lex still couldn't fully understand the workings of the upper crust world.  
  
"I've always thought it was dumb, too. But all you need to know is that calling yourself a Cale will get you pretty much anything you want in Seattle's ritzy world," Brittany shrugged.  
  
"Like free stuff?" Lex's ears perked up.  
  
"Kind of. I used to go into stores and charge things to Margo's tabs all the time when I was a teen. She spends so much anyway, she never notices."  
  
"Well maybe this whole thing'll have a bright side," Lex laughed.  
  
"If you just keep thinking about how it gets you whatever you want, it can sound like a sweet deal."  
  
"Hey, what was that whole cupcake thing you and my mom kept laughing about?" Lex had been meaning to ask that at some point during the night.  
  
"Oh, well when I met her, Uncle Logan had called her over because he couldn't handle baby-sitting me for that day. So I had built this fort and made you dad get in it with me. When Max showed up, I refused to come out, so she was shaking packs of cupcakes next to the fort, when I came out she said the only way I could have one was if I came out and read a story with her on the couch."  
  
"She used to do stuff like that with me, too. When I was three, I hated going to the dentist, so she used to make a trail of Kisses to the door when I'd hide under the couch. I'm so weak when it comes to chocolate," Lex laughed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
11:47 P.M.  
  
Walking into Logan's office, Lex propped her hands and chin on his head, "Whatcha doin'?"  
  
"Just finishing up and Eyes Only hack for tomorrow. You and Brittany seemed to get along well," Logan minimized the window with the video.  
  
"Yeah, so cool. I guess all your relatives aren't evil," Lex laughed.  
  
"Well it was only Margo and Jonas Max hated, for the record," Logan pointed out.  
  
"True," Lex agreed. "So really, what was that you were working on?"  
  
"An Eyes Only hack; the one I got information on today," Logan insisted.  
  
"What's on it?" Lex knew there was something Logan was holding back.  
  
"Um, you wouldn't want to see it," Logan attempted to deter her interest.  
  
"C'mon, what's it about?" Lex refused to back down.  
  
"Well, um, I just wouldn't trust Seattle's courts with handling anything anymore," Logan gave a slight intimation as to the video's content.  
  
After thinking for a minute or so, it dawned on Lex what Logan didn't want to tell, "Oh."  
  
"Just, you know, to help everything along."  
  
"I wanna see it," Lex whispered.  
  
"What? Are you sure?" Logan himself wasn't sure he wanted Lex to see this man's face.  
  
"I feel like everyone knows more about this whole thing than I do. I wanna see it," Lex was steadfast.  
  
Sighing, Logan brought up the window and started to play back the video.  
  
"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. This cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped and it is the only free voice left in this city. Those of you keeping your daughters close can rest assured that there's one less predator on the Seattle Streets. After his last attack, Rodney Flanning was taken into custody. Make no mistake; he will pay for the nineteen rapes he committed against innocent teenage girls. Justice will be served, one way or another. A coward like this deserves no mercy and no mercy will be granted. This has been a streaming freedom video bulletin. Peace. Out."  
  
Standing stolid and speechless for a minute, Lex suddenly turned and wrapped her arms around Logan's shoulders. Unsure of what else to do, Logan instinctively reached his arms up and returned the embrace. After staying like that in silence for a minute, Lex pulled back.  
  
"Thanks," she paused, "Dad." With that she turned and headed to her room without looking back.  
  
Watching her walk away, Logan could hardly believe what he had just heard. As a laugh-like sound broke through his lips, his face broke out into a chesire cat grin.  
  
"Dad," he repeated to himself as his smile grew wider.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: There, she said it. The D-word is out there. And those you getting antsy about the familiars- don't worry. They'll be in the next chapter; I promise. Hopefully, I'll get my PC monitor back soon; but I had to write this chapter with twelve screaming fifth graders running around and hiding under my desk while they played hide and seek in the dark. (It was my little sister's birthday party and I'm stuck typing in the basement.) So I'm sorry for the mechanical errors I'm sure were in the chapter. As always, show the purple button some love and you will get the next chapter as fast as possible. Nothing new, even if you just say that you're reading this, I'll really appreciate it! 


	11. Lifestyles Of The Rich and Famous

A/N: The damn computer place still hasn't called. They've been "gonna get back to me" about my computer for a week. And it was supposed to be fixed by the 20th. Computers suck- have I said that lately? Well, they do. I got my retainer today. That sucks, too. Just when I get the braces off, giving me a month of freedom and then loading my mouth with crap again is such a tease. They shouldn't be allowed to do that, it's all just wrong. My last thing that I'm gonna say sucks- homework. I'm sick of it. It's seriously interfering with my fic-writing time. Although, with they way certain people have been yelling at me (I won't mention any names, but it starts with Maria..), yous have probably all noticed, too. Ok, and please note that skip in dates fro that start of this chapter. I have writer's block again and this is the only non-incredibly-boring solution I could think of. ________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
  
Chapter 11: Lifestyles Of The Rich and Famous  
  
September 2, 2036  
  
"She looks so cute," Jondy gibed at Lex as she pinched her cheek, only to receive an icy glare. "Aw, c'mon, give the camera a nice, big first-day-of- snooty-private-school smile."  
  
"Bite me," Lex snapped back through her cereal.  
  
"Jondy, give up already," Max roll her eyes as she heaved a heavy sigh and grabbed the camera from Jondy's grasp.  
  
"Yeah, don't you have anything better to do?" Lex poured herself another bowl.  
  
"Actually, no. Shop's being tented for termites, so I can dedicate my morning to seeing my favorite niece off to school," Jondy couldn't resist taking full advantage of Lex's irritable state.  
  
"Unfortunately, and I'm your only niece," Lex grumbled as she headed off to the bathroom to brush her teeth and bumping into Logan on her way out. Mumbling something that sounded like 'hey', she disappeared around the corner.  
  
"What's wrong with her; she sick or something?" Logan scratched his head, wondering if his half-asleep state had something to do with it.  
  
"No, it's just the first day of school," Max assured him.  
  
"She's this grumpy every year. When she was five, she hid under Max's bike screaming, "You can't make me go!"," Jondy let out a laugh-like sound.  
  
"She's usually ok by the time she gets home, though," Max told Logan. "Hopefully she'll meet someone she likes."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Cedar Ridge Academy Room E-016  
  
"Welcome to all you As through Ds of the freshman class. I'm Mrs. Crail and I'll be your homeroom teach throughout your four years here at Cedar Ridge," the middle-aged woman greeted the students with smile far too cherry for 7:30 a.m.  
  
Lex sat at her desk near the window, contemplating the many ways in which she could make this woman mysteriously disappear. "Squeal one more time, and it gets taken out on those damn cat figurines on your desk," she thought to herself. After the repetitious torture of filling out seven different emergency and attendance cards, class schedules were finally passed back. When Lex got hers, she stared down, insulted and in disbelief. Biting the bullet, she walked up to the teacher, "Um, excuse me. Where's the office? There are some problems with my schedule."  
  
"Well, what's wrong with it, pumpkin?" Mrs. Crail asked with another blinding smile.  
  
"Ok, first off, don't ever call me pumpkin. But I didn't sign up for half these classes and I want them gone," Lex was in no mood to be further agitated.  
  
Sighing, Mrs. Crail gave Lex directions and a pass, wondering what she was so angry over, "Probably another spoiled little princess," she thought and shook her head as Lex walked out the door.  
  
Pushing the double glass doors open, Lex walked up to the first secretary without a line of students, "Hi, who do I talk to about schedule adjustments?"  
  
"Name?" the woman's response was robotic, like she was already fed up with complaints.  
  
"Alexa Cale," Lex still didn't like the sound of that. She had reasoned that it was mainly because Cale didn't sound good next to Colette, but deep down she knew that it was because she didn't want to sound tied down to her new life.  
  
"Oh, another Cale!" the woman's face suddenly took on a brighter appearance. "I'll take you over to Ms. Barlow, she's free right now," the woman motioned to escort Lex around the corner to a row of offices.  
  
Glancing back at the crowd of waiting kids, Lex knew it was the last name that was getting her ahead of them, "Guess Brittany wasn't kidding," she laughed to herself.  
  
"Ms. Barlow?" the secretary opened the door. "A Cale to see you."  
  
"Cale? I didn't know there were anymore Cales after Miss Brittany," the woman behind the desk stood up to shake Lex's hand. "Welcome to Cedar Ridge, it's a privilege to have you here, Miss."  
  
"Alexa," Lex couldn't believe the shows these people were putting on when they heard that last name.  
  
Once the secretary had left and closed the door, Ms. Barlow offered Lax a seat and sat back down herself, "So how may I help you Miss Cale?"  
  
"You can just call me Alexa," Lex tended to save the shortened version of her name for people she felt comfortable around. "There are a lot of classes on my schedule I didn't sign up for."  
  
"Like what?" Ms. Barlow brought up Lex's file on the computer.  
  
"Well if you look at my records from my last school, I already got the credits for science and history up through graduation, but you have those classes on there. You've got me in calc two, when I did that last year, and I never signed up for band or Spanish."  
  
"We thought those class credits were mistakes, how could you have passed senior courses when this is your first day as a freshman?"  
  
"Easy, I'm smart," Lex fought her natural instinct to get bitchy.  
  
"Alright, so I guess we can take them out," Ms. Barlow attempted to conceal her surprise as she typed the commands into the program. "What were the other things?"  
  
"You forgot the take off the math; I looked and you don't offer anything higher than calc two," she pointed out. "And I don't play anything, so I signed up for chorus, not band."  
  
"Alright. yes, there's room in chorus."  
  
"And finally, I never signed up for Spanish," Lex gave her last request.  
  
"Well, you have no foreign language credits and you need three to graduate," Ms. Barlow took her hands off the keyboard.  
  
"Ok, well, how would I get the finals for them?" Lex shrugged, figuring this day wouldn't have been free of crap anyway.  
  
"Finals? But you need to learn how to speak Spanish before passing the course, Alexa," Ms. Barlow shook her head,  
  
"Muchos gracias, Capitana Obvia," Lex rolled her eyes. At the blank stare she was returned with, Lex translated her remark, "Thank you, Captain Obvious. I already speak Spanish, so just lemme take the finals for whatever three levels and we'll be good to go."  
  
"Why would you want to take the finals on the first day?"  
  
"Duh, so I don't have to take the class. Look, it was how I did things at my old school. First day, I come in, take the finals for those kinds of classes, gets As, and then I'd just fill that in with study halls. Every year, all I took was my PE and health semesters, and art and chorus majors. After the first three periods of the day, I'd leave for work. I got a job teaching swimming at the Rec center across the street," Lex explained.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Foggle Towers 12:36 P.M.  
  
"Greetings," Lex threw her backpack down next to Logan and began raiding the fridge.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Logan tapped his watch, wondering if it had stopped.  
  
"Your watch is fine," Lex laughed as she crushed up a packet of Raman and popped it in the microwave. "I actually would have been home over an hour ago if they hadn't been so skeptical about the Spanish finals."  
  
"Finals? On the first day?"  
  
"Yeah, remember my little system from back home? Well, they didn't believe I could answer six hundred questions in two hours, so they made me stick around while the first one was graded. Good news- they feel like idiots now and I'm done with foreign languages. I would have stuck around to do those English finals, but I'll tackle them tomorrow. I brought them up on the computers- nothing but grammar, vocab, and literature."  
  
"So would this be deemed as a good day or a bad day?" Logan tried to get a sense of Lex's mood.  
  
"For a first day of school, pretty good," Lex sat down next to him with her lunch. "So, what have you been up to?" she asked with a mouthful of noodles.  
  
"I think I finally cracked the drug trafficking case I was working on. Some creep named Grayer Clasin thought he could hit the jackpot with it after his shipping deal with Canada fell through. Turned to drugs, thinking he knew what he was doing, but he's not quite as clever as he thought."  
  
"Disappointed you didn't uncover something big?" Lex nudged Logan's arm.  
  
Smiling at Lex's version of affection, Logan shook his head, "Not really. Taking out one source should cut down on how much of this stuff is in floating around China and scare some other men like him out of undertaking illegal side projects. If Clasin gets a good sentence, that is."  
  
"Well, maybe Eyes Only could get rid of two creeps?" Lex suggested.  
  
"Read my mind," Logan nudged Lex back.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
St. Andrews Academy Salem, Oregon  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Fe'nos tol," Senator McKinley greeted the high priestess when she answered her phone.  
  
"Fe'nos tol," the priestess returned. "This had better not be another request for more time to find something we can use."  
  
"No, I've found something," McKinley promised. "It's the offspring, she's not in public schools, and she's using an alias."  
  
"What leads you to believe something like that?"  
  
"At a private school in sector nine called Cedar Ridge, they had an Alexa Cale taking three finals this morning."  
  
"Could it be make-up tests?" the priestess was skeptical McKinley just had another dead end.  
  
"The girl finished all three in under two hours and didn't get a single one of the six hundred questions incorrect. Aside from that, she has the same date of birth as 452's offspring."  
  
"Well, I believe you've actually done something right for once. I'll send a troop out immediately."  
  
"Fe'nos tol," McKinley obeyed, glad he wasn't going to have to undergo whatever the priestess had been threatening to do if didn't find 452.  
  
"Fe'nos tol," she hung up.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jam Pony  
  
"I just don't know what to expect," Max took another bite of the soft pretzel she'd bought down the street as she talked about Lex's reaction to Cedar Ridge. "Hell, I'd go nuts if I had to spend the day around people like Logan's relatives."  
  
"You know, I still can't believe you have a kid," Sketchy appeared to be deep in thought.  
  
"Why not?" Max was curious as to Sketchy's thoughts.  
  
"I don't know; you just never seemed like someone who'd have kids. Look at the rest of us, in our thirties and still alone. I just always figured we'd all be in the same place."  
  
"Fool, don't make Original Cindy put you in the world's a hurt. There been some fine shorties over the years, they just ain't been with you," Cindy cut in with her defense.  
  
"Can we get through one lunch without pissing and moaning about this?" Alec complained.  
  
"Yeah, well, sometimes finding someone doesn't make life any easier," Max hung her head.  
  
"How's it going with Lex and Logan, anyway?" Alec asked.  
  
"I really don't know. It's not something Lex really brings up, and I don't know what to ask. He said she called him Dad once, but if she's ever said it a second time I don't know about it," Max shrugged.  
  
"Why would baby boo only say it once?" Original Cindy wondered aloud.  
  
"Don't ask me," Max sighed. "They seem to be getting along fine, but Lex seems to treat him more like a friend than her father. Maybe that one 'dad' was her just seeing how it sounded."  
  
"Well at least she's speaking to him, period," Sketchy offered his words of wisdom. "Seriously, how many teenagers are there in the world who treat their parents like friends?"  
  
"Gotta admit, fool has a point," Cindy was always surprised when Sketchy said something intelligent.  
  
"Better you than me raising a teen, Max," Alec shook his head. "I don't see why people have kids at all."  
  
"Sometimes it's because you run out of condoms," Max smacked him upside the head. "But the world doesn't need any more of you running around, so keep that attitude until you're sterile."  
  
"Ouch, Max, that hurts," Alec put a hand over his heart, pretending to be offended.  
  
"Ok, Original Cindy's getting depressed over this crap, so who's in favor of changing the topic?" Cindy threw up her arms.  
  
"Please," Max agreed.  
  
"Ok, so I was at Crash last night showing off my new bike trick- "  
  
"And you saw some hot girl and fell flat on your ass trying to get in her pants and then woke up wondering how you got on some strange couch," Max and Cindy fished Sketchy's story in unison.  
  
"Bip bip bip!" Normal tapped his watch with his pencil. "Let's go people, you don't get all afternoon for lunch!"  
  
"Ten bucks if you shove that pencil up his ass," Max threw her head back and broke off another piece of her pretzel.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Well, I finally have a computer back in my room. Of course, it took the damn place two weeks to get back to me and then it was, "Yeah, the monitor's too old; it's not worth fixing". So I got a new one. But why it took them two weeks to be able to tell me that, I don't know. And, Maria- Vin just might be in the next chapter.. Of course, you know what have to do to make sure of it.. Ok, this is usually the part where I beg for reviews, but instead I'm asking a question- are you guys loosing interest or something? I went to upload this and noticed that this fic only has half the reviews WAMM did. I don't know; that just set off some alarm bells because I really am trying here. So is the story boring? Do you not like the plots? And I think I've made it perfectly clear that you don't even have to give a suggestion, just let me know that this story is being read. Call me insecure or bitchy if you will, but just click the purple button if you wanna see a new chapter soon. Please. 


	12. Square One

A/N: Well, it's nice to know I have to flaunt all my pathetic insecurities to get many of you to let me know your reading. Ok, that was mean. I take it back. Still, please do that more often! You know how I am about hearing that I have readers out there. Lol. Maria- since I didn't your precious baby in the last chapter, I'll mention him in this one.. So you'd better start kissing my ass. Or I just have to start calling you some thing else. I know I've been putting off dealing with the familiars, but that's because I royally suck at writing action scenes. Anybody notice how I had White taken out without having to write a fight scene? Nobody? Only the people I told? Or was nobody listening to me? Yeah, I'll just go with the latter; it seems most logical.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 12: Square One  
  
Saturday, September 6th Sector 7 Bus Terminal Seattle, Washington  
  
"These are your subjects," Senator McKinley handed out photos of Max and Lex to the familiars in front of him. "They are wanted alive; avoid inflicting physical harm as much as possible. On Monday, when you arrive at the posts you've been given, find out where 452 and her offspring have been living and find the other X5 they have been traveling with. Take out any human that knows about them, we can't take any risks that 452 has leaked information about us."  
  
"Yes, Sir," the man standing the front of the group took the photos from McKinley. "We'll let you know when we have them."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Penthouse 11:37 a.m.  
  
"So you only have four classes a day?" Tera's jaw hung down. "You suck!"  
  
Laughing, Lex shook her head, "Well I'd only have three if the didn't make me take aquatics," she grimaced. "It's so pointless; I already know how to swim."  
  
"Yeah, well there are those of us who have never even seen a real pool, so just shut up."  
  
"What? How could you have never seen a pool?" Lex closed her magazine and looked over at Tera.  
  
"This is Seattle, only rich people have them. And from what I've heard, yours is the only school that has one left."  
  
"Oh yippee," Lex's voice dripped with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes. "Ok, why am I even reading this? Who is Josh Hartnett anyway?"  
  
"Got me," Tera shrugged, taking the old issue of YM from Lex's hands. "I've been reading about some Vin guy for the past half hour, time for a new whacko."  
  
"Huh?" Lex looked at the article Tera had referred to and cracked up. "Oh god, if you ever talk to Kayla, don't call him "some Vin guy"!"  
  
"Why not? Who is he?"  
  
"That's guy she'd marry. If she could, I mean," Lex rolled her eyes.  
  
"But how old has he gotta be now?! This is from 2003!"  
  
"Sixty-nine, seventy," Lex thought. "But in Kayla's world, he's eternally thirty-seven."  
  
"Why not eighteen or something?" Tera  
  
"That hallucination's actually kinds legit," Lex shrugged. "Accident on the set of one of his movies. He insisted on doing this stunt, but missed the mat where he was supposed to land, stayed with the burning car instead cuz he freaked out mid-jump. Car lands, he falls. Dies of burns and head trauma at thirty-seven."  
  
"Ouch," Tera shuddered. "But with a body like that, he doesn't look like someone who'd freak out over a car."  
  
"Go figure. But put that with the really deep voice, and he's not too bad."  
  
"Sounds like somebody else has a crush on the dead guy," Tera teased.  
  
"Anyway," Lex ignored Tera's poking and changed to a less morbid topic, "where'd you get these magazines?"  
  
"I found a pile of them in the South Market last year, took them out of boredom."  
  
"You must have been beyond desperate. "Geeky Guys Are Hot"?" she read the title of an article aloud. "Life must've been really boring before the Pulse," Lex mused.  
  
"Just try finding an issue without the words party, flirt, or guys on the cover. Though, I'd say we're not doing much better unless we come up with something to do. We haven't moved in over two hours," Tera yawned.  
  
"So in other words, we're gonna sit around and yawn, only to watch Disney movies until we get hungry for junk we'll call dinner," Lex gathered.  
  
"We really should get a new routine," Tera rolled here eyes as she popped Beauty and The Beast into the DVD player.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Terminal City  
  
"Hey, Max," Gem smiled as she walked into the warehouse. "Do you know if Tera's over at your place? I haven't heard from her since last night."  
  
"As of an hour ago, she and Lex were still there," Max nodded.  
  
"That's good. I'm glad they hit it off, at least they don't have to keep what they are from each other."  
  
"You said it; I don't even wanna think about the Kayla-withdrawal Lex would've gone through," Max laughed.  
  
"Little Fella!" Joshua came up and hugged Max from behind. "You came."  
  
"Sure I came, Big Fella," Max assured him. "I'm not going away again, I told you that."  
  
"Little Fella stays with Logan and Lex."  
  
"That's right," Max's returned Joshua's hug when he placed her back down on the ground. "Nobody's runnin' my ass outta Seattle this time."  
  
"And just when I was getting my hopes up," Alec sarcastically snapped his fingers in disappointment.  
  
"Max!" Dix shouted from his seat in front of the computer screens. "You might wanna see this," worry was evident in his voice.  
  
"What is it?" Max hurried over.  
  
"Footage from a camera at the bus terminal in Sector seven. Ever since Logan got us those programs with higher resolution, we can see everything. Take a look at what this guy is showing his little crowd," Dix pointed to the image of McKinley.  
  
"Somehow, I'm guessing he's not showing off pictures of his new girlfriend," Alec remarked.  
  
"Shut up," Max smacked him. Crossing her arms, she began to pace and rant, "Figures. I mean, how long could I have expected to get a normal life? I forgot, I'm not supposed to be happy."  
  
"But Max, didn't you already beat the familiars back in Canada? I'm sure you can do it again," Gem tried to reason.  
  
"Actually, it was Lydecker and his tact team that took out White," Max admitted. "Wait a minute," an idea popped into Max's head, "I'll be back," she ran out of the warehouse and gunned the engine of her bike, leaving the other transgenics to exchanged confused shrugs.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sector 9 Jondy's Apartment  
  
"Jondy!" Max rushed in the door.  
  
"What-ie?" Jondy laid upside down on her couch clicking the remote. "So many channels, so little to watch."  
  
"Yeah, well, we don't have time for TV," Max flipped it off. "The familiars just drove into town."  
  
"What?! How the hell did they find us?" Jondy snapped upright.  
  
"Who knows, who cares?" Max shook her head. "They're here and they shouldn't be."  
  
"Got a battle plan yet? Where's Lex? They might be after her again," Jondy's solider mode began kicking into gear.  
  
"She should be at home with Tera, though they may have gotten bored and headed to the South Market," Max pulled out her cell phone and hit the speed dial.  
  
"Hmmm?" Lex's blasé voice picked up.  
  
"Lex, where are you guys?" Max's tone was urgent.  
  
"Watching Mononoke Hime," Lex answered, referring to one of her animes. "We finished Beauty and The Beast."  
  
"Alright, good. Listen to me, the familiars just got in town. I want you to pack a duffel and be ready to head down to Terminal City when I say, ok?" Max instructed.  
  
"How the hell did those bastards find us this time?"  
  
"I don't know yet, but I don't wanna take any chances that they know where the penthouse is."  
  
"What about Dad? Should I tell him the same thing?"  
  
Every time Lex used the D-word, it still made Max smile brightly, "Oh, didn't know he was there with you. But yeah, tell him the same thing and grab my duffel, too. As soon as I get word on where they all are in the city, I'll call you and let you know what route to take."  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Lex played along to Max's Manticore attitude.  
  
"Just get moving," Max warned as she cut off the call.  
  
"So you got any inklings on a plan?" Jondy shouted from her bedroom; where she was dragging out her own duffel bag.  
  
"Kind of, but now I'm having second thoughts. I think it's make a better Plan B," Max followed Jondy's voice. As Jondy nodded, Max's phone rang, "Yeah?"  
  
"Max, it's Dix. I just tracked all the familiars to a hotel in sector nine, so you might wanna get out of there. None of them are on the streets and McKinley left the city, so now's your chance," he relayed to her.  
  
"Great, thanks Dix," Max hung up and turned to Jondy, "Let's move."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Terminal City 8:30 p.m.  
  
"And just why isn't a good idea?" Mole protested. "They're not expecting us, and we could use the advantage of a surprise attack against them."  
  
"The rest of the people in the hotel aren't expecting us either," Alec backed up Max. "How do you think the public will react to an army of transgenics storming an upscale hotel?"  
  
"The public is just as big a threat as the familiars. We need to decide where to lure them to before we fight them," Max addressed the group below from her place by the computer terminals.  
  
"How about outside the city?" an X8 suggested.  
  
"No, we want to keep it some place we know. Every feasible advantage needs to be taken, and home field should be no exception," Alec stepped up beside Max.  
  
"What about the sewers? They'd be lost in there," another transgenic shouted out.  
  
"We don't have them memorized either. And getting trapped in a tunnel where you're outnumbered won't do us any good," Max rejected the idea.  
  
"What about here?" Lex shrugged.  
  
"Yeah," Tera backed her up. "We get that home field advantage because we've already got battle stations planned out for everyone, all our extra supplies are here, and as long as we can find a safe place for all the surveillance stuff, we can keep track of them through the cameras."  
  
All exchanging speechless glances at once; the adult transgenics digested the teenagers' statements.  
  
"All in favor of taking them down here?" Jondy held up her fist.  
  
One by one, the rest of the transgenics in the warehouse followed, making it a unanimous vote.  
  
From their place on a pipe near the ceiling, the girls laughed.  
  
"Yet another example of why teens should rule the world," Lex cocked her head towards the crowd underneath them.  
  
"Did you plan on wearing that shirt, or is it just a coincidence?" Tera point to the slogan. "Ask a teenager now while they still know everything."  
  
Laughing again, Lex shook her head, "No, but when is it not fitting?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Later that night, Max stood on the roof, gazing at what view of the stars Seattle had to offer. She smiled to herself as she though about Lex, out- thinking even herself on a battle plan for the familiars.  
  
"Room for one more on this roof?" Logan whispered in Max's ear as he snaked his arms around her waist from behind. "What made you come up here?"  
  
"Just thinking about how all of Manticore's super soldiers just got out- strategized by two teens," Max sighed and leaned back into Logan's embrace.  
  
"Well, Lex did learn from the master," Logan smiled as he nuzzled Max's neck.  
  
"But now the student has surpassed me," Max held up her finger to articulate the point.  
  
"Which gives you a little more free time," Logan mumbled as he began to make a trail of light kisses along her earlobe.  
  
Max turned around and looked at him, but started laughing before she could get any words out.  
  
"What?" Logan looked her in the eyes, only to make her laugh harder.  
  
"You are so obvious when you beg," Max managed to get out as she caught her breath.  
  
"So is that a no?" Logan asked rhetorically.  
  
"Baby, we're on the roof of the warehouse." When that answer didn't seem to be enough for Logan, Max added, "Lex is right down there, remember?"  
  
As that small tidbit of information surfaced from the back of Logan's mind, he wordlessly turned Max and resumed their pervious position. Spooning her, he tightened his arms around her waist, "I love you."  
  
"I love you, too," Max titled her head and kissed his chin.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Monday, September 8th Cedar Ridge Academy 5:27 a.m.  
  
Lex sat out in the crisp, misty air, scanning the area for anyone approaching.  
  
"See them yet?" Jondy's voice broke through Lex's com.  
  
"No," Lex answered for the twelfth time in the past fifteen minutes.  
  
"You remember the plan, right?"  
  
"Yes, I got it," Lex rolled her eyes. "Monkeys see, monkeys chase, monkeys end up in Terminal City, monkeys die."  
  
"Thank you for that interesting interpretation, but could you take the plan a little more seriously?"  
  
"It's killing you not to laugh," Lex more observed than asked.  
  
"Just. shut up!" Jondy pursed her lips together. "And stop referring to the familiars as monkeys."  
  
"Ooooo," Lex channeled her hearing and zoomed her vision to three approaching figures. "The monkeys are here."  
  
"Just get the job done and be careful," Jondy said as Lex clicked off the connection.  
  
The three men approached Lex, looking at each other questioningly.  
  
"I'll bet you boys didn't think I'd be waiting for you," Lex smirked as she gunned her engine and took off. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the familiars chasing after her at their top speed. "Idiots," she laughed to herself as she made the first turn towards their destination.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Terminal City  
  
"Gem! Lex is tailing a band of goons this way," Jondy relayed down.  
  
Nodding, Gem activated the coms of the transgenics stationed where Lex would be coming in and gave out the orders, "All units to their posts. Use deadly force; leave none alive."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sector 12 Jam Pony 5:32 a.m.  
  
"They should be coming, Lex just started hers on the wild goose chase," Jondy informed Max. "You still alone?"  
  
"Nobody yet," Max said. "Jam Pony doesn't open till eight."  
  
"Well, the familiars seem to be starting business bright and early. It didn't sound like they expected Lex to be waiting, so take advantage of that if you can."  
  
"Well, what teenager does want to be at school two hours early?" Max laughed. "Thanks for the heads up."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Terminal City  
  
"Incoming!" Lex shouted through her com as she gunned her bike up a wooden board, clearing the barbed wire fence with ease.  
  
The familiars followed close behind, in pursuit of her every move. As the front man witnessed Lex jump the fence, he came to a halt, "Son of a bitch!"  
  
"No way we can clear a twelve-foot fence like that. Should we take a chance with the barbed wire?" one of the accomplices asked.  
  
"Pain is a phantom of the mind," the front man ordered as he began climbing the fence. "Those transgenics think they're so smart, but they're wrong. A little wire can't keep them safe from us."  
  
One by one, the three familiars dropped down onto the ground of Terminal city, blood streaming from the deep gashes the barbed wire left in their hands and legs. The leader signaled for his followers to head down the alley Lex had turned on just a moment before.  
  
"Dammit!" one of the familiars cursed as he saw Lex's abandoned bike propped up against the wall.  
  
"Wait," another spoke up. Pointing forward, he took off towards the center of Terminal City, where the four familiars chasing Max had just stumbled into.  
  
"All units, targets are in designated location release fire, repeat release fire!" Alec ordered from his vigilant post on a rooftop.  
  
Simultaneously, the transgenic militia rose up and fired their weapons. In a whirl of bullets and blood, the seven men dropped to the ground as a scarlet pool grew around them.  
  
From inside the main warehouse, the remainder of the population watched the action unfold and cheered at the sight of the familiars' demise.  
  
After a sigh of relief, Lex's face fell slightly. "This isn't over yet, is it?" she innocently asked Max, even though she was already well aware of the answer.  
  
"No, sweetie. Far from it," Max slid an arm around Lex's shoulders as her daughter rested her head on Max's chest.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Well, that certainly took long enough. But hopefully this chapter was pretty good and that'll make up for the wait. I had it virtually done as of Wednesday night, but had to go to bed before the phone line freed up and I could get this chapter posted. (Yes, I remain cursed by dial-up and my house only having one phone line.) And then there was that thing where I turned 16 on Thursday and having my annual birthday sleepover Friday night, so I've been pretty busy. Then I go to upload this, and ff.net is down for the ninety-millionth time. I will do my best to get the next chapter up faster, but I'll be getting surgery on wrist this week. I don't know if I'll be in a cast or just have my left hand looking like a balloon, but I expect it'll hinder my ability to type. And surely my wrist will be a little sore. So no yelling if it's more than a week until my next upload. Now please, please, please click the purple button and leave me a review. If you wanna yell at me for taking so long, go ahead. But when you guys read this and don't review, I do get worried that you guys don't care anymore, so I might be driven to start really slacking on the chapters. So feed into my pathetic insecurities, ok? ( 


	13. The Mighty Shall Fall

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed for your comments and b-day wishes. And it doesn't look like I'll be going in for surgery on my wrist as soon as I thought, but it will come, eventually. Now their saying it's not really the cyst, it's tendonitis. And of course the doctor asks me if I'm happy about that. It's like, what am I supposed to do? Break out a party hat and run around the office yelling 'yeah for tendonitis'? But Anywhoo.. I don't really care what they say. It still hurts, they're still dumb, and yous still want me to just shut up and get to the chapter..  
  
A/N #2: It may look as if Kayla is being ignored, but not to worry. I plan to bring her back, possibly in a big way in a few chapters. First, I'll get the familiar deal taken care of and then I'll reopen that door.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
  
Chapter 13: The Mighty Shall Fall  
  
Friday, September 12th Terminal City Abandoned Warehouse  
  
Ducking the blow to her head, Lex flipped back over the barrel between her and her adversary.  
  
"You can't escape me," the familiar threatened, leaping up to join her.  
  
"Arrggghhh!" Lex lunged her feet at him as powerfully as she could, sending him hurdling back into a metal pole. Following to where he landed, she turned and swung her elbow into his face, forcing twin rivers to flow from his nose. Giving a second blow, she knocked his head to the ground. Thinking he was out cold, she took a deep breath and began to examine her own injuries from the long fight. Her hands were spattered with blood; whose, she didn't know. A myriad of green and purple bruises adorned her chin, neck, and legs, and well as a lone one on her right arm. "Shit!" she cursed to herself, having underestimated the familiars. "Monkeys they are defiantly not." Caught off-guard by the awakening man below her, Lex suddenly felt herself flying backwards until something sharp pierced her side. "Ahhhh!" she screamed in agony.  
  
"You're arrogance is your undoing," the familiar spat in her face and delivered a crushing blow to her temple.  
  
Breathing deeply, her head bobbing like a blowing ball in her neck, Lex fought the blackness that was overcoming her. "No, no, no! Never back down!" she tried to yell at herself. "Get up; it's not that bad."  
  
Before she was even halfway standing, the man grabbed her shoulder and whispered harshly in her ear, "You're just like your mother, transgenic filth. Who's superior now?" He brought his other hand to Lex's throat and began to slowly apply pressure to her windpipe, "I'd kill you right now if the conclave didn't want you alive. But say, in battle, you happened to loose you footing and fall from one of those rafters near the ceiling. I'm sure you'd still be just as useful for experiments."  
  
As the man began to drag her towards the stairs, a semi-conscious Lex struggled to break free of his grasp. Suddenly, she began to have intense flashbacks from the last time a strange man dragged her off. With newfound vigor, Lex thrashed her neck from side to side and clawed mercilessly at the man's arms, face, and neck; wherever she could reach.  
  
"Bitch!" the man screamed and dropped Lex as she snagged the cornea of his eye with her fingernail, rendering him blind.  
  
Inhaling sharply, Lex took advantage of every second of mercy she could get. She clawed at his other eye, but missed, only breaking the skin just below his eyebrow. As he took back his hands, Lex cringed at the site of him- blood and the contents of his eye socket mixing into a gel as it oozed down his cheek. Just as he was ready to pounce, blood from the gash above began pouring into his other eye, depleting his clear vision. Lex dove behind him. As he felt around Lex's pervious location for her, she jump up and delivered one foul kick to the back of his head, sending him into the corner of the metal storage tank in front of him. As the sharp, protruding edge broke the skin and skull of his forehead, he fell to the ground. His face was barely recognizable with bits of bone now added to the mixture pouring to the floor. The one good eye was coated with blood, making it red in appearance. Slowly stepping back, Lex stared at the sight in horror. She'd been in more fights that she cared to think about over the past five days, but never in her life and she killed someone, let alone with her own hands. As she began feeling faint and nausea rushed over her, she turned and ran from the warehouse, terrified to look back.  
  
Lex ran though the littered streets of Terminal City, blinded by tears and unable to concentrate. Quietly, a voice registered in the back of her mind. Turning around, she saw Logan running after her, but unable to keep up.  
  
"Lex!"  
  
Relief filling her, she ran towards him as fast as her legs could carry her, launching herself into his arms and breathing rashly.  
  
"Lex? What happened to you?" concern filled Logan's voice as he surveyed the cuts and bruises covering his daughter's body.  
  
"I was just. I didn't mean to. but I, I couldn't," Lex tried to form a coherent sentence, but failed miserably.  
  
"Come on," Logan picked her and carried her back to the headquarters.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Jondy!" Logan called out as he ran into the warehouse. "We need you over here!"  
  
Rushing over with a first aid kit, Jondy stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Logan laying a beaten Lex down on the couch.  
  
"Oh my god, what happened?!" Jondy shook her head and hurried to her niece's side in shock.  
  
"I was just tuning up my bike, and this familiar came at me," Lex told her.  
  
"How long were you fighting him?" Jondy cleaned the blood off Lex's hands.  
  
"I don't know," Lex hung her head. She winced as Jondy hit a cut on her knuckles.  
  
"Damn, what'd you do, punch a window?" Jondy secured some wrapping down.  
  
"No. Got thrown into a pile of scrap metal," Lex tried to laugh, but gasped at the pain it rendered in her back and chest.  
  
Looking over Lex's shoulder, Jondy saw the beginnings of bloodstains appearing on Lex's jean jacket.  
  
"Logan, you might wanna leave now," Jondy warned.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because this is the part where Lex has to take off her shirt." As Logan bolted up and out of the warehouse, Jondy nearly fell off the couch in hysterics. "Ok," she caught her breath, "Now let's have a look at that back of yours."  
  
As Jondy cleaned and bandaged the array of cuts, Lex tensed up again, "Aunt Jondy, when's Mom gonna be back?"  
  
"She hasn't had any run-ins so far, so she should be back from work in about an hour. What's wrong?" Jondy asked as she taped up the last slice near Lex's shoulder blade and tossing her a fresh sweatshirt.  
  
"I won," Lex whispered hesitantly.  
  
Thinking for a moment, Jondy understood what Lex was implying. "Oh, sweetie," She took Lex into a comforting hug, "It's alright. All that matters is you're ok."  
  
"Easy for you to say," Lex mumbled. "I've never killed anyone before."  
  
"I know," Jondy sighed. "But just because of what I went through, it's not fun. You need to look at the big picture here. If you hadn't have done that, he would have killed you. And I probably wouldn't feel any remorse for killing in self-defense, especially if I got cut up like that. But you do, and that proves that you're not a bad person. You're more humane than any of the rest of us."  
  
Closing her eyes and returning Jondy's embrace, Lex felt faintly relieved, "Thanks."  
  
"I love you, ok?" Jondy smiled down at her.  
  
"Ok."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jam Pony  
  
"So how's the war zone going?" Original Cindy closed up her locker as she and Max got ready to leave.  
  
"I've seen worse. It seems to be dying down, though, and that worries me," Max flung her backpack over her shoulder.  
  
"'Boo, correct Original Cindy if she's gone crazy, but would less a them be a good thing?"  
  
"No, because it means they're planning something. I don't even want to count how many familiars we've killed since Monday, but no way we took them all out. We've gotta take out the leaders, and to do that we've gotta find out where they're hiding."  
  
"So no idea when this is gonna end?" Original Cindy's hope fell.  
  
"It's like another Manticore," Max mounted her bike. "They'll just keep coming until you take out the source."  
  
"Well, then, in the mean there's always Logan to bug you about."  
  
"Cindy! Where Logan and I are going is the last thing on my mind right now. There are these little idiots that keep getting in the way," Max shook her head.  
  
"Yeah, just like you two 'weren't even like that'," Cindy rolled her eyes. "You two are gonna have to have that conversation sooner or later."  
  
"Yeah, I know,' Max sighed and stared down at her feet, "Believe me, I know." Snapping back up and into reality, Max started her engine. "I'll call you tomorrow, boo."  
  
"Mmmm," Original Cindy nodded her head and waved. As Max disappeared into the crowded street, Cindy pedaled her own way into the mass of people and sighed, "Sounds like dejá vu to me."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Terminal City  
  
"Hey," Max strolled up to Logan with a smile on her face and snaked her arms around his neck.  
  
"Hey," Logan mumbled back automatically.  
  
"What, no kiss?" Max teased, starting to worry about the look in his eyes.  
  
"Sorry," Logan snapped out of his trace, capturing her lips with his. After their mouths parted, Max kept her eyes focused on his. "What?"  
  
"Are you ok? You look like freaked out."  
  
"I am, a little. But I'm ok," Logan wasn't sure whether me should tell Max or just take her to see Lex.  
  
"Care to tell me what happened?" Max prodded further.  
  
"Um, well." Logan tried to grasp what had happened for himself. "I'm not sure of the details, but somehow Lex got into a fight with a familiar."  
  
Gasping, Max looked around, "Well where is she now? Is she ok?"  
  
"She's with Jondy. I'm sure she'll be fine, she's just a little shaken up," Logan said. "She killed him, Max," he blurted out at the end.  
  
"What?" Max was sure she hard Logan wrong.  
  
"That's what she's freaked out about. She did it with her hands."  
  
"Oh my god," Max knew Lex wouldn't deal well with that. She had had training from Max and Jondy, yes, but Max had always taught her that killing was the last option. Max resented being bred as a killing machine and refused to pass that onto her daughter. "Um, have you said anything? To Lex, I mean," Max asked Logan.  
  
"Not really. I found her running up the street and brought her in, but I left before the talking started."  
  
"Well, you don't like killing people either so I-"  
  
"No, no," Logan cut her off. "Um, Jondy had to patch up some cuts on her back."  
  
"And?" Max didn't quite grasp his point.  
  
"Well, she couldn't exactly do that through her shirt, so. I came out here."  
  
"Oh," Max laughed as she realized what Logan was saying. "You know, we both wear the same size, so she wouldn't be wearing you haven't seen before."  
  
Covering his ears, Logan shook his head, "Max! I didn't need to know that!"  
  
Laughing, Max rested her head on his chest for a minute before taking a deep breath and heading into the warehouse to find Lex. Spotting Lex and Jondy on a couch underneath the stairs, she walked over and sat down.  
  
"Heard you had a rough day," she reached out and moved Lex's hair to better see her face.  
  
"No shit," Lex mumbled and leaned into Max's open arms.  
  
"You wanna talk about it?" Max glanced over at Jondy, who just shrugged.  
  
"Not much to say. He would have killed me if I didn't beat him to it," Lex shrugged, sounding a little too void of emotions for Max's liking.  
  
"Honey, it's ok. Just promise me you won't just bottle everything up," Max pleaded, seeing Lex's wasn't in much of a talking mood.  
  
'I know, you learned the way," Lex ended her mother's plea for her. "I won't, I promise." Getting off the couch, she headed out towards the back, "I'm gonna go read for a while."  
  
Watching Lex disappear out the door, Jondy sighed, "I didn't get anything more out of her."  
  
"I jut hope she's gonna try to run from it, like I did," Max shook her head.  
  
"I don't think she will. But she's not gonna be chatty about it either," Jondy agreed.  
  
"Yeah," Max sighed. "Hey, what happened to the body?"  
  
"Sent some people out to tae care of it," Jondy winced. "Um, apparently one of the eyes was gouged out and the forehead was totally crushed in."  
  
"Ewww," Max winced as well, imaging what the scene might have looked like. "Why the eye?"  
  
"The one to ask isn't talking," Jondy referred to Lex. "But they said given the spots of blood all over the place, it must have been one hell of a fight." After an awkward silence, Jondy tried to lighten the mood, "At least she's not calling them monkeys anymore."  
  
"Mmmm," Max wasn't really listening.  
  
"Ok, what's wrong with you? You sure as hell didn't kill a familiar or you'd be bouncing of the walls," Jondy tried to gauge Max's eyes, which were empty.  
  
Sighing, Max knew lying to Jondy was futile. "It's Logan," she said cryptically.  
  
"I thought you two were getting along just fine," Jondy wiggled her eyebrows, giving away what she was implying.  
  
"Not that," Max spat out slowly. "It's the whole where-do-we-go-from-here thing again. I was talking to Original Cindy and she bought it up."  
  
"Well at least one of you is," Jondy rolled her eyes. "You won't let me ever bring it up, and you walk around like it doesn't even exist."  
  
"I just don't know what to do. I mean, it wasn't anything I ever expected."  
  
"So you were going through the motions like you were never gonna see Logan again?"  
  
"Knowing the way my life usually panned out, I didn't expect anything more," Max shrugged.  
  
"What happened to ditching your 'hope is for losers' philosophy?" Jondy pushed.  
  
"I did, for the most part. But if I did have hope, and nothing happened, I couldn't have dealt with that. When you expect nothing there's not much room for disappointment."  
  
"Well, something did happen. And you're gonna have to deal with it sooner or later. I mean, you're in Seattle, you're living with him, you're obviously in love with him, and it's been almost five months. How much longer are you gonna put this off?" Jondy could see the fear and apprehension Max was trying so desperately to hide.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Staring to Logan's peaceful face the night as he slept, Max loved the way the soft moonlight illuminated the blonde still in his hair.  
  
"Max Cale, Max Cale," she thought over and over in her head. Max couldn't tell what she found more strange- the name or the fact that it wasn't scaring her.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Well, there we have it. I actually wrote an action scene. And I don't think it totally sucked. More like, just flirting with that line. Anyway, enough of my own review- tell me what you guys thought. In my opinion, I suck at action scenes, so I avoid writing them at all costs. But if you liked it, or you wanna see them more often, humor me and leave me a review. I know these chapters have been getting slow, but it should go back to normal after my research paper in social studies gets done. Thanks for sticking with this; I know a lot of you liked that I used to get chapters about once a week. I apologize for what were probably a million spelling/grammatical errors in this chapter. It's late and I read over it haphazardly. 


	14. The Road Ahead

A/N: The chapters should start coming more frequently now, so certain people can stop yelling at me so much. You know who you are. Lol. Since most of you had opinions differing from mine on the action scene last chapter, well, I'm surprised, but I'll write them more often from here on out. Thanks for the ego boost; they do a girl's motivation good every now and then. ;)  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 14: The Road Ahead  
  
Terminal City Saturday, September 27th 8:30 p.m.  
  
It had been three long weeks since the familiars first set foot on Seattle streets. The war waged hadn't been easy on any of the city's transgenics, no matter what they're role had been in the battles. Blood had been spilled on both sides, the transgenics loosing two X8s in the crossfire of one of the last face-offs.  
  
"Forty-nine hours since the last attack," Jondy observed as she sat at the dispatch computers with Gem. "You think they might be planning something big?"  
  
"If they are, they're not doing on our turf," Gem read the message Alec had just sent her. "No sign of any familiars in the city."  
  
"He have them check down in the sewers, too?"  
  
"Sewers, hotels, bus terminals, markets, alleys, abandoned buildings," Gem read off where the troops of X series had been looking. "All monitored and at least two hours and nothing."  
  
"Alright, bring them in," Jondy nodded as she signaled for the militia to hold their fire.  
  
"Maybe they've given up," a twinge of hope was present in Gem's voice. "For now, I mean."  
  
"That's what it's beginning to look like," Jondy nodded.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Saint Andrews Academy Salem, Oregon  
  
"How many transgenics are in there?" the familiar high priest looked over the reports of the battles with the transgenics.  
  
"I don't know," McKinley shrugged. "It's next to impossible to tell, but it's got to be near a thousand."  
  
"Then how could we have nearly five thousand casualties?" the priest was enraged.  
  
"Per haps this is being dealt with in the wrong way," McKinley suggested.  
  
"Just how else are we supposed to go about this?"  
  
"Well, from the file White left on 452, and based on what we could find from Manticore, it looks like her biggest weakness is her emotional bonds to those she loves," McKinley treaded around his idea.  
  
"You idiot, we already know that. But it's been made rather clear that the girl is better than we thought," the priest snapped.  
  
"But I'm thinking about the humans 452 is connected to. I f the transgenics are too close knit and the girl's been underestimated, why not try ordinaries?" McKinley gave his rebuttal.  
  
"Easier said than done," the priest shook his head. "We can't even tie the name Cale to 452 anymore."  
  
"Why not? You saw what that girl could do!"  
  
"Yes, but her records show she was in school on the days the transgenics were being attacked. I find it hard to believe 452 would send her kid off with our people crawling the city," the priest told McKinley both of the unaware that Logan had been hacking into Cedar Ridge's computers and changing Lex's attendance sheet.  
  
"So all we have to go on is 452's job?"  
  
"And that's hardly the lead it seems to be," the priest admitted. "The place itself is far too public for us to attack, let alone apprehend her. A troop went through there a few nights ago, but 452's file lists no address or phone number and shows that she's still using the last name Guevara, which is another reason to discount the gifted girl."  
  
"What does that leave our next move at?" McKinley inquired.  
  
"We keep a tab on the girl, but don't put anyone on her. At this point, it's just a matter of watching her records until we can completely rule her out. As for 452, I want to know more before we attack again. Find out where's she's living, and whom she's living with. Don't call until you do. Fe'nos tol," the priest dismissed McKinley.  
  
"Fe'nos tol."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Terminal City  
  
"So what's with the anti-socialness?" Tera stuck her head out onto the roof of the warehouse.  
  
"Nothing," Lex shrugged, hunching over a sketchpad.  
  
"Wow, that's really good," Tera commented over the image taking form. Sprawled over the paper was the form of a fairy, crossing the line between light and darkness, the colors changing to their opposite at the page's center.  
  
"It'd be better if I'd brought my colored pencils with me," Lex blended the black ink with her finger.  
  
"I heard you sent Logan over to the Needle," Tera raised her eyebrows. "Wouldn't have anything to do with Max being there, would it?"  
  
"Maybe, maybe not," Lex didn't look up.  
  
"Doing dirty work for Jondy?"  
  
"That's usually how it works," Lex held up the drawing and scrutinized it. "Do the wings look asymmetrical to you?"  
  
"The wings are fine," Tera heaved. "Now what exactly did you want to accomplish by sending Logan up there?" When Lex ignored her Tera just laughed, "I'm not leaving till you say it!"  
  
"Say what? He's not gonna ask her now. He'd be the type to get this gorgeous ring and have this perfect plan before he popped the question."  
  
"So then what's the point of sending Logan after Max?"  
  
"Because he won't do it until he's sure shed say yes. And whenever she's in her 'high place', she's more apt to dive into the forbidden world of emotions," Lex explained simply.  
  
"Interesting analogy," Tera nodded. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "Do you want them to get married?"  
  
"I just hate to see the issue keep being avoided," Lex didn't really answer the question.  
  
"Lex."  
  
"If they do, they do; if they don't, well, that's not my business," Lex tried to sound indifferent, even though she wanted them to be like a real family more than anything.  
  
Sighing, Tera saw pushing the issue would get her nowhere. "Yeah, I guess," she shrugged. "You know, I may not be Kayla, but you can still tell me stuff."  
  
"I know," Lex nodded back. "But there's not much to tell here."  
  
"Yu sound just like Max," Tera laughed. As Lex opened her mouth with a come back, Tera held up her hands, "I know, I know. Thank me, Captain Obvious," she rolled her eyes as both girls started laughing.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Crash  
  
"Fool, fo' the last damn time, she came down with that mono bitch!" Original Cindy shouted as Sketchy asked again about Max's absence.  
  
"But it's been three weeks!" he whined.  
  
"Bitch can take three months before you're back to normal," Original Cindy set a fresh pitcher of beer down on the table.  
  
"Really? That sucks," Sketchy mulled over the thought for a minute. "Hey, isn't that 'the kissing disease'?" he remember the aliment's nickname.  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"Well, you know, if Alec has it, too, and he went out the same day-" Sketchy wiggled his eyebrows.  
  
Slapping him upside the head, Cindy brought a stop to his fantasy, "Don't make Original Cindy put yo' ass deep in the worlds a hurt! Ya ain't gotta kiss to pass it. Alec finished Max's soda right before they got sick," she tacked a small lie on the end.  
  
"That did hurt," Sketchy moped as he rubbed the back of his head.  
  
"Besides, you think boo would ever do that to Logan?" Original Cindy shook her head.  
  
"No," Sketchy agreed. Taking another generous gulp of beer he wondered aloud, "You think she and Logan are gonna get married?"  
  
"Eventually, yeah. Whenever boo gets over those issues a hers, it'll happen. Just a matter of time," Cindy nodded. "Now c'mon, I feel like whoppin' some ass; make me look good in fronta that fine shortie over there," she tossed Sketchy a stick and headed towards a free poll table.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Space Needle  
  
"Taking advantage of the dry night?" Logan came up behind Max and sat down.  
  
"Starting to forget what stars looked like. How'd you know I was here?" Max smiled as she leaned back against his chest and into his arms, lacing his fingers with hers.  
  
"A little birdie told me," Logan laughed.  
  
"That birdie wouldn't be 5'6" teenager with brown hair and a sarcastic attitude, would it?"  
  
"Maybe." Logan felt Max's lighthearted mood shift.  
  
"I had a feeling," Max sighed. Lex had overheard Jondy pressing Max about the future with Logan and had taken it upon herself to hop on the proverbial bandwagon to get force Max to talk to him.  
  
"Is that a bad thing?" Logan turned Max so that he could look in her eyes.  
  
"No," Max sighed, trying not to let her apprehension get the best of her. She'd spent the last few hours up here trying to figure out what she wanted in this whole mess. "Logan," she started, suddenly breaking eye contact, "we need to talk."  
  
"I know," Logan nodded. "I've been thinking a lot, about us, lately."  
  
"So, you know what I'm gonna say?" Max got hopeful, even thought she herself didn't know what to say.  
  
"You go first," Logan didn't want to rush anything with her, as he couldn't determine exactly what was going through her head.  
  
"Ok," Max took a deep breath. "Ever since I left and had Lex, all I wanted was you, for her to have a normal family and us to be together. And now being back in Seattle, not everything is turning out just like I could have planned, but how much I wanna be with you hasn't changed at all. And I just wanna know what you want; you know, where we're gonna go from here? You know better than anyone, I have no clue in hell what to do here. I forgot to take 'Fucked Up Relationships 101' back at Manticore. I don't want to put you in any danger, but that's obviously inevitable."  
  
"I don't know exactly what to do here, either Max. I don't think anyone would," Logan tightened his grip around her. "But all I want is you. At this point, a normal girl who doesn't have a secret government agency or breeding cult on her ass just sounds boring," Logan laughed in attempt to break the somber mood. "You're unlike anyone I've met and that's one of the million things I love about you. I started falling in love with you the minute I saw you and that'll never change. I never gave up on us, even after all those years and I couldn't be happier to have Lex now. I'm worried about what you want or how scared you still are. You know I'll never let you go," Logan hoped his professions wouldn't make her run.  
  
"You'd better not," Max smiled, snuggling down into his chest and burying her face in his jacket. His warm scent filling her, she felt comforted. Feeling him so close stirred something inside her and made her wish time would stand still. "Logan?" she asked as he ran his fingers through her hair.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I'm not scared; not with you." She didn't say anything else, but something in the way she looked up at Logan made her intentions clear to him. She wasn't running anywhere. Not this time.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Finally, I'm nearly back on track with getting these chapters written. My research paper for my world cultures class is starting to go smoothly, so there's one less thing taking up my fic time. Sad news- my hamster, Skittles, died today. I buried him back in the pet graveyard with the other hamster and fifty million fish. My house is quiet now tonight without that annoying squeaky wheel. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Now I gotta ask you to please do it again and tell me- do you wanna see Max and Logan get engaged now or later? This is obviously coming- but it could go either way. I have about 20 different ideas zooming through my head, so leave me your vote! 


	15. The Swing of Things

A/N: Well, nice to see how some you don't read my author's notes! Anyone who left their vote out of their review- shame shame! The "engaged-now" people won; toss up people- please don't do that! Just give me a yes or no, it's easier for my delusional mind to process! Lol! I'm working on what scene I'm going to put in. It's not gonna be in this chapter, but it'll happen in one of the next few- 16 or 17. ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 15: The Swing of Things  
  
Jam Pony Monday, September 29th 8:15 a.m.  
  
"Well, missy, nice to see you decided to show up this morning," Normal sneered as Max strode down the ramp.  
  
"Don't make me cough on you," Max threatened, remembering the excuse Original Cindy used to cover for her.  
  
"Just what I need, another one of you cretins spreading some disease around here."  
  
"Go piss and moan to someone who cares," Max grabbed the package he tossed her and met up with Cindy by the lockers.  
  
"Hey, boo," Cindy smiled as Max distributed her things between her backpack and locker. "Nice to see you back."  
  
"Yeah, it's good to get outta there. As much as I love Joshua and everybody."  
  
"You got a thing for rich boy's crib," Cindy finished Max's thought.  
  
"You know you love it, too," Max laughed.  
  
"Got Original Cindy there. Nothin' beats real coffee and working power," she laughed. "So, how'd that talk with Logan go?"  
  
"Who told you about that?" Max whipped her head around.  
  
"Three letters, starts with L," Cindy rolled her eyes. "But only cuz Original Cindy asked baby boo what the dealio was! And she wouldn't tell anything other than that y'all spent quite a while on top a' the Needle. So spill," she sat down on the bench and crossed her arms.  
  
"So we talked a little about taking the next step. I think."  
  
"You think?"  
  
"Well, you know. I didn't know exactly what to say, but Logan knows what I meant."  
  
"So he knows you wanna get married," Cindy got hopeful.  
  
"I guess," Max smiled slightly. "But you know, now that it's out there, I don't know what to do next," she joined Cindy sitting down.  
  
"Generally, boo, it involves a diamond ring and a white dress. But you're probably gonna be all waitin' on Logan to pop the question."  
  
"You know me too well," Max sighed.  
  
"Bip bip bip! Socialize on your own time!" Normal leaned over the counter and shouted. As Max passed by the counter, he tossed her another package, "You have three weeks worth of runs to make up for, missy."  
  
"Bitch to your precious golden boy whenever he shows up," Max caught the package in one hand as she unearthed the keys to her bike.  
  
"Ouch, Maxie," Alec jogged into the building and feigned offence before turning to the counter. "Normal, I'm so sorry for being late," he lied. "But if you look on channel three, you won't believe the crash in sector 4."  
  
Normal grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, nodding slightly at the sight. The reporter continued, ".witnesses at the scene described the vehicle spinning out of control and crashing into the checkpoint. A fire broke out and spread to the surrounding cars in the pile-up as well as the platform on which to sector police were standing. The two men were taken to Metro Medical for treatment, but luckily didn't suffer any serious injuries."  
  
"That's what I was stuck in. Took me nearly a half hour just to get up there and show them my ID," Alec pointed to the screen.  
  
"Surprised that kept you waiting," Max crossed her arms.  
  
"Hard to pull off something with TV cameras everywhere," Alec returned. "And don't even start; not all of us get to come from sector nine."  
  
"None of you come from there, you're bike messengers," Normal's monotone voice cut in without looking up from his clipboard as he handed Alec a package. "415 Weston, get going."  
  
"One of us does," he mumbled, taking the box and turning back towards the doorway.  
  
"Somebody's jealous," Cindy laughed, watching Alec speed away.  
  
"Either that or somebody got turned down last night before he got any," Max joined in.  
  
"Look, I don't care where he gets off thinking one of you lives in the high rise district, but what did I just tell you two? Bip bip bip!" Normal tapped his watch with a pencil.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Cindy waved her package in the air as she and Max headed out.  
  
"I don't think I'll ever get him," Max shook her head, referring to Alec.  
  
"Boy's not one to get," Cindy rationed. "But whatever's up his ass now will probably be taken care of by beer and a random blonde tonight."  
  
"True," Max cocked her head in agreement. "See ya in the park for lunch?"  
  
"Don't be pullin' no disappearin' acts on me," Original Cindy waved as Max gunned her engine and rolled her eyes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Cedar Ridge Academy  
  
"Now one of the keys to getting your distance is to glide on the water's surface. Don't go too deep and keep it at one continuous motion as you push off. Hands tight above your head in a streamline, and use your toes to push off the ledge," Mr. Franks explained how to do a sit-dive like it was rocket science. "Let's have the far side go first," he pointed to the side of the diving well opposite from him.  
  
Lex sat next to the diving board he was standing on, rolling her eyes and grumbling to herself, "Advanced class my ass."  
  
"You look unhappy," Mr. Franks turned around and scrutinized the expression on Lex's face. "Is there something you wish to share with the class?"  
  
"No," Lex answered curtly, knowing that if she spoke, detention would be inevitable.  
  
"No, I heard you mumble something under your breath and here at Cedar Ridge we have a policy of showing respect to teachers and administrators. Now I'll ask you again, what were you mumbling?" he brandished his small authority as if he were a king.  
  
Formulating a lie, Lex adopted a very irritated expression, "Well, sir," her second word dripped with sarcastic emphasis, "I have a song stuck in my head and wasn't aware I was signing it out loud. Please accept my apologies."  
  
Mr. Franks didn't push it any further, but glared at her for the rest of the period. Later, in the locker room, Lex stood drying her hair and ranting about the class, but this time being sure to keep her thoughts in her head. She almost didn't notice the band of school high life approach her until they had taken their classic stance, hips cocked to the right and arms crossed.  
  
"You were so totally not signing," their ringleader, Illana Lawson, started off.  
  
"Does this little venture of yours have a point?" Lex was in no mood to deal with them today.  
  
"Hey, nobody talks back to a Lawson," another one of the girls in front spoke up.  
  
"You heard her," Illana stepped forward. "Now don't you have something to say to me?" she patronized with a flip of her long blonde hair.  
  
"You mean other than 'fuck off'"? Lex pretended to be dumfounded.  
  
"How dare you talk to me like that! If I tell my Daddy, you'll really get it!" Illana screamed.  
  
"Ooooo, I'm scared," Lex's face was impassive as she shut off the dryer and packed up her towels. "And why would care if I was singing or not? Or can just not find someone else to bitch at?"  
  
"Is that a threat?" Illana held up a fist.  
  
"Or are you jealous? After all, from what I've heard your family doesn't hold the entire spotlight in this city. Oh, but I'd be careful with that fist, you have no idea what you'd be up against," Lex mocked her, getting more and more agitated with the random fights these girls always seemed to pick.  
  
"What is wrong with you? You don't act like a Cale and totally deserve to be one," another one of the sidekicks jumped into the fight.  
  
"Who said I wanted to?" Lex shrugged as she grabbed her sketchbook. "Go cry to ATM. Money always fixes shallow people like you, right?" Lex jeered as she made her way out of the locker room into the art wing across the hall.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Midway Bistro Sector 9 12:30 p.m.  
  
Seeing Lex walk in, Jondy waved her over to the table she and Brittany had scouted out. The place was fairly crowded now that the lunch traffic was picking up. Mostly people in business suits rattled off their orders at the counter and remained absorbed in their cell phones or palm pilots, snapping out of their trances only long enough to hand over a crisp bill.  
  
"Hey, hun," Jondy handed Lex a can of Coke. "Gotcha a soda."  
  
"Thanks," Lex threw down her backpack and rested her chin in her hands. "You know, I'm beginning to see why school shootings were so popular pre- pulse."  
  
"Bad day?" Brittany laughed.  
  
"Yeah," Lex took a deep breath. "You go there with any Lawsons?" Lex wondered aloud, referring to Cedar Ridge.  
  
"Unfortunately. Which one do you have the displeasure of knowing?"  
  
"Illana."  
  
"Eww," Brittany grimaced. "She's been that way since she could talk. But I'd hold your tongue. Princess Shira is friends with a Lawson, and you really wanna avoid a face-off in front of Margo. Believe me, you'll never hear the end of it."  
  
"I've never been so happy to be a nobody," Jondy laughed. "I can bitch to who I want, when I want. So long as my boss doesn't find out if it's between nine and five."  
  
"Yeah, lucky you," Lex rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oh, and before I forget, you two wouldn't know why I bummed into Uncle Logan at Boodle and Dunthrone yesterday, would you?" Brittany got excited, referring to the British jewelry store that had opened a shop just before the Pulse in what then became sector nine.  
  
"What?!" Jondy's eye's bulged. "Oh my god," she turned to Lex, "he's actually doing it. And soon!"  
  
"Well, maybe not soon," Lex shook her head. "He'll probably spend forever trying to find the perfect ring for her, you know how he is. And then there's the planning of the whole night."  
  
"Yeah, but he's starting now. Wait, does Max know?"  
  
"He wouldn't do it if she didn't say she wants to get married, but she hasn't been freaking out, so I doubt she knows he was ring shopping. He was looking at rings, right?" Lex asked Brittany.  
  
"Yeah. But he bolted when I saw him; his excuse didn't make it past "Ummm"," she laughed.  
  
"Dammit, why couldn't I have been the one to catch him?" Jondy snapped her fingers. "So what'd it look like?"  
  
"I don't know the exact one, but all the ones in the section he was by were incredible. Darker stones like emeralds or rubies with tiny diamonds around it or on the sides," Brittany described. "They seemed like Max would like them. You know, gorgeous, but not really flashy or busy."  
  
"Subtly beautiful," Jondy agreed.  
  
"Exactly. So where did this come from? I mean, I expected them to get married eventually, but I never got the impression it would be this soon," Brittany sipped her soda.  
  
"They got a little coaxing," Lex answered quickly.  
  
"Coaxing? What kind of coaxing?"  
  
"Well, Max got sick, so I guess spending so much time together forced the to talk about their future at some point, right?" Jondy nodded at Lex.  
  
"Right," Lex agreed, deciding Original Cindy's lie was the most believable. "Call it fate."  
  
Just at that moment, the pizza they ordered came, saving the interrogation from going any further. Lex stayed relatively quiet for the rest of the lunch, her thoughts going back to Logan in the jewelry store. A small part of her felt the same familiar apprehension she had experienced when Logan had first shown up and when they'd moved to Seattle. She wondered whether or not she was ready for them to get married. A wedding would finalize it- no more of the Max and Lex Show, they'd be a family of three. Of course, this also brought on more strongly the impending possibility of a little brother or sister, which also gave Lex mixed feelings. Could she handle this much change this fast? Was it even her place to question it? After all, she wasn't the one getting married, here. As the three finished eating and left the restaurant, heading their separate ways, Lex returned Brittany's hug and forced a smile as she promised to talk to her soon.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Penthouse  
  
"Hey," Logan greeted his daughter apprehensively as she walked in. "How was lunch?" He knew Brittany had been there and was worried about what she might have said.  
  
"Good. Brittany says "hi"," Lex paused for a second in the doorway of Logan's office, deliberating whether or not she should question him on what's she been told. Part of her wanted to, but afraid of what might slip past her tongue, she decided against it and just turned away, "I'm gonna go kill some homework." On the ride home, she'd reasoned with herself that when Logan proposed wasn't her business, and it was up to Max to say yes or no. No doubt Max would accept, but that was just something Lex would have to deal with and embrace, nervous or not. But then, she'd also not wanted to get to know Logan and she called him Dad now. She'd not wanted to move to Seattle if Kayla hadn't been leaving for Boston, and the city was honestly growing on her. So why shouldn't having married parents be nice? The more Lex mused over the idea, the more she attempted to unearth the positive, and it wasn't all that hard to find.  
  
As Logan watched her face, he got the feeling there was something she wasn't saying, and he was sure it was about the ring, or at least the ring shopping. Brittany had been gone by the time he'd returned to the store to purchase the one he'd deemed perfect for Max. The question now, was when to give it to her.  
  
________________________________________________________________________ A/N: I'm sorry this one took long again, but in addition to having to write that damn research paper and a surprise essay for English, my over-due writer's block came back to haunt me. But I think I worked through it pretty well, considering. As always, I would like to thank all my loyal reviewers! You guys know how much of a junkie I am when it comes to that! Those that don't click the purple button- please don't be shy! Just let me know you're reading, trust me- it'll make my day! I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors. I did a pretty haphazard job proofreading this chapter. 


	16. The Waiting Game

A/N: Wow, this has taken long enough to get started. I just sat down, typed "Chapter 16:", and drew a total blank. Probably my worst writer's block ever, but hopefully this chapter makes sense. I felt like every idea I had wouldn't flow with the story, but then when I tried to go back and edit it, they all came out sounding boring. But then again, given my cynical nature, I think everything is crappy (my stuff, that is).  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
  
  
Chapter 16: The Waiting Game  
  
  
  
Cedar Ridge Academy Friday, October 10th 11:32 a.m.  
  
"So has he done it yet?" Kayla excitedly asked, having just heard the story of Logan and the jewelry store.  
  
"No, he hasn't even said anything. I've tried to do some snooping, but I didn't find anything yet. I mean, he must've gotten the ring already. Brittany's just as crazy as I am waiting for something to happen, and she says he hasn't been back in the store since that one day. And I don't know if he knows I know, which is killing me. I wish he'd say something. Or at least do something that'll clue me in on what he plans on doing and when he plans on doing it. I mean, he'd tell me if he was gonna propose, right?" Lex ranted as she sat outside in a sunny courtyard despite the chilly air, adroitly cradling her cell phone between her ear and shoulder as she hurried to finish her last sketch before the bell rang and her school day ended.  
  
"I'd think he would. I mean, he is still trying to win you over. But if he's had the ring for about two weeks, and hasn't made a move yet, he must be planning something big. But I'm surprised at you. All those transgenic snooping abilities and you can't even find a ring. Hell, you could even get into the forbidden shoebox."  
  
"Oh shut up. That was different. I know mom and I knew where she could hide stuff. I don't know his tricks yet."  
  
"You just can't let me have my moment to gloat, can ya?" Kayla shook her head and laughed.  
  
"Not when I'm having a mini-crisis, no," Lex chewed on her pencil as she contemplated the best way to fill in the background of her work.  
  
""Well why not just ask him? If he's trying to build a relationship with you, he wouldn't lie," Kayla tried to reason.  
  
"But if he wanted me to know, or anyone else for that matter, why hide it?" Lex refused to listen.  
  
"Are you even paying attention to anything I'm saying? Or are you just going insane on your own?" Kayla unknowingly cradled her phone in the same way as Lex as she fished through her backpack for her house keys. "Cuz you keep repeating yourself."  
  
"Huh?" Lex snapped out of her stippling trance. "You know, there are only so many tiny little dots I can make before I loose it."  
  
"So why not do something else?" Kayla went along with the change in subject.  
  
"It's part of the assignment. I already used all the other methods on other part, so I'm stuck with stippling for the entire background," Lex mentally kicked herself for not using the tedious dotting early, and in a smaller part of the paper. "So you doing anything for Halloween this year?"  
  
"As of right now, no. My mom's pulling her you're-too-old-for-trick-or- treating crap again. She says I'm not allowed to initiate anything like that with people," Kayla laughed.  
  
"So in other words, now that I'm physically out of the picture, she wants you to make sane friends," Lex summed up.  
  
"Pretty much, yeah. But I'm still going; that free candy has to be eaten by someone."  
  
"I'm going. I think Tera and I are gonna dress Jondy up as an invisible pedestrian again."  
  
"You'd better take pictures! That was hilarious the first time we did it," Kayla laughed, remembering the year they had gotten Jondy drunk and had her walk around with a black sheet over her. Watching people walk into her was funny, even though she never figured out the origin of all the unexplained bruises on her during the first week of November.  
  
"Humor knows no cruelty," Lex acted like an old wise man. As the shrill bleating of the school bell broke Lex's train of thought, she gathered her supplies and bagged all of her work. "Ah, school's out," she smiled. "I'll call you later ok? And give Kyle a squeeze for me."  
  
"Will do. I'll have to out him on sometime. He thinks you disappeared off the Earth or something."  
  
"Awww," Lex laughed. "Later," she shut her phone off as she walked back into the building and headed to her locker.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Penthouse 12:35 p.m.  
  
"Lunch?" Lex popped into the kitchen, startling Logan.  
  
"You know, you're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days," Logan shook his head, trying not to laugh as he caught his breath.  
  
"What? Too old and frail to have a little fun, are we?"  
  
"For that kind of fun, yes," Logan smiled as he caught the white carton Lex slid him. "What's this?"  
  
"Chicken on a stick," Lex opened up a container of her own. "Found a kick- ass Thai place down in the South Market. Got some of those Lo Mien-ish noodles, too."  
  
"Why not just ask what these things are really called?" Logan asked between bites of chicken.  
  
"Cuz the lady there doesn't speak any English, or any other language I do. So I point, she gives. No need to know the real name," Lex shrugged.  
  
"Anyone go down there with you?" Logan was still slightly wary about Lex going to the South Market by herself.  
  
"No, but I made extra sure to steer clear of spiked soda," Lex nodded with a mocking tone.  
  
"Funny," Logan admonished her sarcastically. "How was school?"  
  
"Excluding the other students, not bad. Oh, but before I forget to tell you, I have stay late on Monday, so I won't be back till about two."  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"Nothing!" Lex put her hands on her hips defensively. "Some crap about a state test where they need a certain score to get extra funding, and they want me in on the deal. I didn't want to, but apparently they don't care that the public schools could use it a hell of a lot more than them. They gave me a freakin' subpoena and said I'd have a week of detention if I ditched, where they'd make me take it anyway."  
  
"Well, getting chosen to take a test like that will look nice on your transcript and come in handy for college, so don't fail it on purpose," Logan tried to sell the idea.  
  
"How'd you know I was gonna do that?" Lex asked about screwing up the test.  
  
"Maybe I'm getting better at reading your mind," Logan grinned.  
  
"Ok, Sherlock, what am I thinking now?" Lex crossed her arms, challenging him.  
  
"Quit it," Logan guessed.  
  
Lex's mouth hung open in surprise as she went to say something, but then drew a blank. "Just. eat your chicken on a stick," she laughed as she pouted and turned up her nose. "But I bet you don't know what I'm gonna watch after this."  
  
"The X-Files. Probably an episode from season five or eight," Logan was more confident about this guess.  
  
"Oh you're good," Lex narrowed her eyes. "But why?"  
  
"Because those seasons are your favorites. I believe the word you use is 'shippy'," Logan laughed. "And you never watch season nine, because Mulder's hardly in it."  
  
"And he's blown it!" Lex held up her hands in victory. "I never watch season nine because I don't have it on DVD. I only have one through eight and the movie. See, you always get ahead of yourself."  
  
"You're just jealous I can hold my own now," Logan teased. He wondered if Lex knew how much he looked forward to this little game they seemed to get into everyday. He loved everything about times like these, being able to get to know her, watch her smile, hear her laugh, but most of all he loved the sheer simplicity of it all. Dare he use the word- it was almost normal.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jam Pony 1:00 p.m.  
  
"Damn, you gotta start bringing me Logan's stuff more often," Original Cindy wolfed down Max's lunch of leftover pasta. "Now you gonna eat some or leave it all to me?"  
  
"Not hungry," Max shook her head.  
  
"Boo, when it's eatin' like this, it ain't a matter of bein' hungry," Cindy hesitated to take the bowl. "You getting' sick?"  
  
"Probably caught what Sketchy had last week, no big dealio."  
  
"Well don't you go getting' sick on my ass again. After all, you done used up yo' fair share of sick days, right boo?" Original Cindy winked at Max.  
  
"Yeah, or maybe that mono isn't as gone as I thought it was." Max found herself a loophole.  
  
"Oh, Original Cindy sees how it. You want some extra to go shack it up with rich boy there, so you leave your girl stuck with the Three-legged Wonders," she rolled here eyes, referring to Sketchy and Alec.  
  
"Damn right this third leg is a wonder," Alec sported his usual cocky grin as he popped up behind Max and Cindy. "What's wrong Maxie, your tummy still hurt?" he mocked.  
  
"At least it's more believable than your spur-of-the-moment wrestling deal in New York. And how you just happened to get sick of it and wanted to come back to this hellhole."  
  
"Gets me brownie points with Normal," Alec shrugged, finishing the last of the chips in his hand. "So how's my buddy Logan? He saved the world from the plot of alien terrorists yet today? Or is he holding out on us until tomorrow?"  
  
"I don't know what he's up to, but I haven't out doing any legwork in a long time."  
  
"Oh, so you're into using other body parts?" Alec wiggled his eyebrows.  
  
Shooting him a look, Max drew back and punched him in the stomach, almost causing him to taste those chips for a second time. "More than any other girl is willing to do for you without getting paid at the end."  
  
"Ok, both of you are gonna make Original Cindy straight with all this nasty talk," Cindy grimaced and covered her ears. "Now you," she grabbed Alec's sleeve, "Go find someone else to piss off. Maybe one of those pimp daddies you seem to love doin' business with."  
  
"Whatever," Alec rolled his eyes and made his way over to some of the other messengers, who were hanging out by the refrigerator.  
  
"Now," Cindy turned back to Max once Alec was far enough away and seemed disinterested in their conversation. "What's this whole dealio with you and Logan not being on the same ball?"  
  
"I didn't say that," Max shook her head. "I mean, he's just hiding something. And I know that I'm the only one who doesn't know what the hell it is."  
  
"And what makes you say that? Cuz Original Cindy ain't in on this one."  
  
"No, I mean out Lex and Jondy. See, when Jondy has a secret, she gets this weird look on her face when she's with you cuz she wants to blab. It kinda looks like she's doing the potty dance with the expression, but she stays still. You know what I mean?"  
  
"Yeah, I got it. Now what about baby boo?'  
  
"She's just been quiet for no reason. I can see it in her eyes she wants to say something, but she's keeping her mouth shut."  
  
"You think Logan might have gotten something shiny and round in a little box?" Cindy hinted.  
  
"No," Max reluctantly shook her head. "But that's because they both act that way around Logan, too. If that was the big secret, they'd get red and giggly around him."  
  
"Well now you got me all curious about this secret. Think I could find out?"  
  
"Maybe," Max shrugged. "But whatever it is, I guess I'm obviously not supposed to know."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Penthouse 7:35 p.m.  
  
Max and Logan stood in the kitchen, washing the dishes in a comfortable silence. Had Max been presented with a scene like this when she and Logan first met, the sheer normality and domestication of it would have sent her fleeing on her bike, but now she was beginning to almost look forward to it. She didn't want to break whatever they were sharing, but she had to admit to herself that ever since her conversation with Original Cindy earlier that day, the idea of the 'big secret' had been eating away at her mind little by little. Formulating the best approach in her head, she started to try and bat her way around the bush before just outright asking.  
  
"So," she tried not to get ahead of herself. "Do you think Lex has been a little quiet lately?"  
  
"Um, no more than usual," the question caught Logan a bit off guard. "Why?"  
  
"She didn't say anything at dinner tonight; you know, besides monosyllabic answers. Seems like there's something she's not saying," Max studied Logan's face. "Just thought maybe she'd have said something to you."  
  
"You'd still be the first to know," Logan leaned over and kissed her temple. "But it can always be chalked up to normal teenage behavior, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," Max complied, though in the back of her mind she wasn't sure she believed her words.  
  
As it looked like Max had dropped the subject, Logan began to muse on it himself. Was Lex hiding something? And if she was, what?  
  
"Wait a minute," a small voice in Logan's head suddenly perked up, "she doesn't know about the ring, does she? You didn't tell her, or anyone else for that matter. No," he mentally shook his head, "it's impossible. The box hasn't been touched."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Ok, so what did we think?? Please show some love to the purple button- he's been so lonely these past few weeks! Now, for those of you who get the link to this fic through FF- I don't know if you've read the recent announcement, but given the gloomy outlook for the site, but I also post updates at DAR (Dark Angel Reflections), so I'll post a link to there should the worst happen. 


	17. Déjà Vu

A/N: Wow, it's the last chapter of the year already.. Time flies when you procrastinate. Lol. Anywhoo, I know I promised a proposal by this chapter (three guesses what I'm gonna say next.), but I've gotten ahead of myself yet again. Ok, that and I got a better idea then the random one I had before. So sit back and hold off on strangling me for one more chapter.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 17: Déjà Vu  
  
Cedar Ridge Academy Monday, October 13th 11:45 a.m.  
  
Lex walked into the cafeteria and tentatively surveyed her surroundings. The place was a lot bigger than she had expected, with eight different lunch lines, a wall full of vending machines, and three other stations that she could see serving some kind of food. Spotting what she was looking for, she made her way through the crowd and popped open an empty microwave. She's made a stop by the Thai place earlier that morning since she wouldn't have been allowed to leave for lunch today. After her food was heated up, she glanced down at the form she had been given that day during homeroom and walked over to the table she'd been ordered to sit at.  
  
"Sweet, empty," Lex inwardly smiled, glad she wouldn't have to deal with any of the pompous snobs floating around her. Dumping her black and purple backpack on the seat next to her, she pulled out a book; an old Stephen King novel called "Rose Red", and started to read. Feeling as if she was being watched, she looked up to find four girls standing across from her.  
  
"You new here or something?" the one in the front asked, her face mirroring the same confused looked as her friends. She was about the same size as Lex, with long curls dark that fell down past her chest. The bright auburn highlights in the front complemented her shimmering gray eyes, which seemed to change color if the light caught them at just the right angle.  
  
"Not really," Lex made no effort to move.  
  
"Then what are you doing here? And why haven't we ever seen you?" another girl sat down. She was slightly taller then the other girl, with athletic clothes and pixie-short hair she wore spiked out.  
  
"I've never eaten here before, that's probably why not," Lex shrugged. "I just got this paper today telling me to sit here."  
  
"Wait a minute," the front girl pulled out a planner. "Crap, that test is today. You must be that girl they told us about, then."  
  
"Probably."  
  
"Well, in that case, welcome to our little corner of hell," one of the two blondes in the back leered. She had longer hair then the other, glasses, and a black t-shirt that said "Invader Zim" at the top and then had a picture of a little alien that was saying, "Somebody needs a hug".  
  
"Well, anyway, I'm Ali," the girl in front sat down next to Lex, "that's Leah", she pointed to the athletic girl, "that's, well, also Allie," she laughed and pointed to the blonde with glasses, "and that's Faith," she cocked her thumb at the shorter blonde, who had stayed quiet.  
  
"Hi," Faith smiled and gave a small wave.  
  
"I'm Lex. You guys both have the same name? Doesn't that get confusing?"  
  
"Not really," the blonde one answered. "There are those who call us by our last names, which means she's Hanley and I'm Mullen."  
  
"But half the time we're not paying attention to anyone, so you have to slap us to get our attention. And they're spelled different, she's got two Ls and I-E at the end. I'm just A-L-I," the brunette added with a grin.  
  
"Wow, where'd you get real food?" Leah eyed Lex's chicken.  
  
"Stopped in the South Market this morning," Lex answered.  
  
"I could never do that," Faith said her first full sentence of the period. "Not a morning person."  
  
"I don't sleep much, anyway, so it's no big deal," Lex took a bite and went to put her book away, deciding she probably wasn't going to get much reading done.  
  
"Hey, Faith, look!" Leah grabbed to book from Lex's hands and laughed, holding it up. "It's your favorite movie ever!"  
  
"Oh my god, stop it!" Faith shivered and hid her face.  
  
"Movie scared the shit of her," Allie said to Lex as she reached over to take the book from Leah. "Here, and of she grabs your stuff just pinch her in the side and you'll get it back."  
  
"No! Don't do that!" Leah shouted and laughed. "Ooo, lines died down. I'm off to frolic to the glop they call food."  
  
"They have nachos today, right?" Allie grabbed her school I.D. and followed.  
  
"They've got the good pizza on Line 2," Faith chimed in as they all disappeared into the mass of people.  
  
"Well, looks like it's just you and me," Ali pulled a purple lunch box out of her backpack. There was writing that looked like names and messages sprawled all over the back and bottom. "Oh, everyone's signed it," she laughed when she saw Lex studying the back. "Gives the thing personality, don't cha' think?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess," Lex smiled. "So you guys ever taken this test before?"  
  
"Every year since fifth grade," Ali rolled her eyes.  
  
"That long, eh?" Lex smirked.  
  
"Eh?" Ali looked up and laughed. "I thought only Canadians said that."  
  
"Well, I guess that's true. Haven't heard anyone here say it. Not that I use it that much though," Lex was caught a bit off guard by that.  
  
"Wait, you're from Canada?" At Lex's perplexed nod, Ali scratched her head, "Well, then what the hell are you doing living a in toxic waste dump like Seattle?" When Lex didn't offer an immediate answer, she waved her pervious question away, "Never mind."  
  
"Well, this sector isn't a dump like all the others," Lex shrugged.  
  
"Gee, thanks for the reminder," Ali rolled her eyes. "Don't you wish you could stay here even after school, though?"  
  
"Why wouldn't I?" Lex wasn't sure what she meant by that.  
  
"Well, aren't you here through Renaissance? The sector pass even says we have to be out of here by four."  
  
"What's Renaissance?"  
  
"Duh, the program we're all taking the test for. Didn't you bother to read the packet they gave you?" As Lex shook her head, Ali explained, "Renaissance is a program the state mandated back in '24 when the school opened. Since the schools in other sectors were falling apart, both literally and figuratively, they started the program to try and "foster scholarly attitudes". Anyway, they took all the kids forth grade and up with 3.5 GPAs or better, gave them a test, and the highest scorer from each grade got a full scholarship to go here, or to Linwood Hall if you were in grades four to eight. Then every fall, you have to take this test to prove you're not just screwing around, but they way they test it is by putting us up against someone who goes here without the program. But everyone else gets in here based on last name instead in intellect, so it's never a challenge. No offense."  
  
"Oh, I thought the school was supposed to get money off this," Lex felt a little dense. "And none taken, I'd agree with you on the other idiots here."  
  
"Well, the dim-wits that run this place made a point to tell us you were smart, or in their words "able to crush us like the insects we are", so try not to make us look too bad, ok?" she laughed and winked, just the other girls returned from the lunch lines.  
  
As the five continued talking, Lex was reminded of times she had at her old school. These girls all lived in sector five, except for Leah, who was in sector seven. As they examined each other's sketchbooks, finding a shared interest in art, Ali proudly brandished her Spanish notebook to show off the doodles she had penciled in during that class.  
  
"Don't they almost look like people?" she guffawed, telling Lex how her artistic ability and creativity peaked at stick figure, unlike the others.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Penthouse 4:15 p.m.  
  
"So how'd it go?" Logan looked up from his laptop as Lex waltzed in the door.  
  
"Not bad actually," Lex explained to Logan what the test had actually been for, differing from her initial impression. "And the other girls were.. interesting," she laughed. "Definitely a colorful bunch, but nicer than anyone else there. Probably because they don't come from money."  
  
"Well, at least you have school friends now."  
  
"On the contrary, Mr. Sunshine. I'll never see them. Remember how I don't stay for lunch? Anyway, I gotta run. Promised Mom and Original Cindy I'd meet them after work to go shopping for Joshua's birthday."  
  
Logan remembered the day Joshua had first found out about birthdays. He'd looked like an overgrown puppy the way his eyes lit up when Cindy told him presents, balloons, but most of all, cake. He'd picked October 20th, and after the party Cindy had thrown him, he'd refused to put the subject to rest for months.  
  
"Have fun, Grumpy" Logan smiled and winked as Lex gave him a mischievous glare, backing out the door.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
South Market 6:00 p.m.  
  
"Lex, tell yo' mama she gotta get out sometime or another," Original Cindy called in back up.  
  
"Yeah, what happened your trademark screw-the-world attitude? I've gotta check out this Crash place sometime or another," Lex whined.  
  
"If I promise to go to the Halloween party this year, will both of you get off my back?" Max was getting desperate to put the argument to an end.  
  
"Yes," Cindy gave a nod. "Alec and Sketchy won't stop doggin' on how you ain't been back to reclaim your title at the pool table. Stunt contests could use some a that mad skill o' yours, too."  
  
"Stunt contests?" Lex turned around from the CDs she was eyeing.  
  
"No," Max cut off Lex's train of thought. "No, no, no. Don't get any ideas." As Lex began to pout, Max turned her head back to the CDs, "Anything good?"  
  
"Just crap. What the hell is a Backstreet Boy, anyway?"  
  
"Before my time," Original Cindy shrugged as she examined the cover.  
  
"Are we done yet? I think we've cleaned the entire city of Debbie Cakes," Lex glanced at her watch.  
  
"Logan said to be back by 6:30, anyway. See ya tomorrow boo," she hugged Original Cindy goodbye.  
  
"That you will. Bye Baby Boo," she headed for her bike, sighing when she saw the extensive line at the sector checkpoint.  
  
As Max and Lex turned for their bikes as well, something in a bin at a nearby stand caught Max's eye.  
  
"Hey, you go ahead, I'll catch up in a minute," Max told Lex as she fought through the crowd of people rushing to find the last few things for their dinner before the clouds acted on their threat to burst open. Walking up to the stand she pulled the round object out and a devilish smile swelled across her face. "Well whadda ya know?" she thought to herself, "A grapefruit."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Penthouse 11:45 p.m.  
  
"Aren't you done yet?" Max asked for the third time in the past five minutes, snaking her arms around Logan's neck as he hunched over his computer.  
  
"Why? You got something in mind?" he spun his chair around pulled her down into his lap and began searching her neck with his lips.  
  
"Mmmm," she moaned when he a sensitive spot. "Maybe." she tired her damndest to remember what it was she was going to say as all coherent thoughts were quickly fleeing her mind. "But I got you something."  
  
"What?" Logan grinned seductively as he reached under her shirt and traced circle patterns on her lower back.  
  
Reaching into the last bag from the market, she held up the grapefruit. "An early present," she smiled as a faint blushing crept onto her cheeks.  
  
"Haven't seen one of these for a while," Logan remembered the last time he'd gotten this early birthday present from Max.  
  
"Found it down at the market. They had chickens, too."  
  
"We must be in a recession," Logan mumbled as lowered his lips to hers and fumbled to find the clasp of her jeans.  
  
"Ironic, huh?" Max pulled back and grabbed Logan's hand before it completed its task.  
  
"What?" he complained about being interrupted.  
  
"That now I'm the one who has to remind you that there's someone not sleeping just down the hall."  
  
Logan looked up into her smoldering eyes and gave rise to a small laugh. Without a word, he swung her up and carried her into the bedroom; the grapefruit left being in the chair.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
6:30 a.m.  
  
"Hello?" Lex walked from empty room to empty room; surprised her mother wasn't awake yet. Yeah, some people might have deemed this hour 'early', but she was usually up by now. Passing Logan's office, Lex saw a grapefruit resting in the middle of his chair and Max's shoes and jacket on the floor nearby. Inhaling sharply, Lex turned and quickly headed for the elevator, cursing it for not moving faster. Shaking her head, she grimaced and muttered to herself, "Ewww, yucky thoughts a'brewin."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Friday, October 31st Halloween 9:30 p.m.  
  
"Alright, I think it's safe to say I have my entire body weight in Snickers here," Tera readjusted her backpack as she and Lex turned away from the house they'd just hit. She'd taken the easy way out costume-wise, dressing as a baby for the fourth year in a row. It was a simple deal- all she needed was pajamas, a pacifier, and her hair in pigtails.  
  
"Tol'ja this was a good idea," Lex referred to the way the two wore their schoolbags over their stomachs. "It holds more candy and doesn't feel as heavy. Plus you can zip it when you run."  
  
"Only you could turn Halloween into a science," Tera laughed. "Though you're a little lively for a dead doctor," she pulled at Lex's powder blue scrubs.  
  
"Hey, it takes skill to get zombie make-up looking this good," Lex sped up to the apartment building across the street. "C'mon, now that all the little kids are going home, people will give you whatever candy they have left. Either that or they give you money to go away."  
  
"Score," Tera zipped up her backpack and hurried to catch up.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Crash 9:50 p.m.  
  
"What's she trying to do, get every last piece of candy in the city?" Logan looked at his watch and noted the time.  
  
"It's a yearly tradition," Jondy nodded. "Girl's lucky she has transgenic strength or she'd have to make a couple trips back here to unload."  
  
"At least it'll last her," Logan took another sip of his beer.  
  
"Yeah, till Thanksgiving," Max retorted. "Hopefully Tera can keep up with her. If she and Kayla would get a big group together, they'd be only ones left this late."  
  
"Yeah, woo-hoo," Jondy rolled her eyes.  
  
"What? Would it have been more dignifying if five girls had pulled one over on you?" Max teased.  
  
"Where would they get that "invisible pedestrian" idea, anyway?" Logan couldn't help but to smirk.  
  
"Oh shut up," Jondy glared, trying hard not to laugh herself. "Now c'mon Logan. I think you're drunk enough I can beat you this time."  
  
"Starting the party without me? How rude!" Lex bounced in the door.  
  
"How was the trick-or-treating here?" Max asked.  
  
"Not bad. And I didn't even get kicked out of all the good buildings," Lex maneuvered her backpack onto the counter and pulled up a stool next to Jondy. Seeing Logan start to form a question, Lex fielded it in advance, "Back home, people in the ritzy neighborhoods hated when the rest of us all would go there, guess they thought we were gonna plunder they're safes or something. So they started locking all the lobby doors and you had to have a key to get inside. Of course, there are those of us who figured out how to climb up the fire escapes and head down from the roof. If you were caught inside without a key, you get deported."  
  
"Well, I'm glad you had fun," Logan laughed.  
  
"You think you broke any records?" Jondy lifted Lex's bag, trying to mentally gauge its weight.  
  
"Tough to say. But I got at least three weeks worth in there. Now I want a chance to join in," Lex grabbed a stick. "I'll even be nice and let you break," she winked at Logan.  
  
"You're digging your own grave," Logan grinned as he lined up his shot and sunk three balls.  
  
"Five hundred on Lex," Jondy nudged Alec with her elbow, who was already collecting bets.  
  
"You crazy or just drunk?" Alec protested, but held out his hand for the money none-the-less.  
  
"Just wait and see," Jondy coughed up a wad of cash and smiled.  
  
On his third shot, Logan sunk a ball, but scratched, much to Lex's delight.  
  
"Ooo, my turn," she smirked. "Four in the corner pocket, six in the other, and ten," she pointed to a side pocket with her stick, "right there." Ignoring the grunts of disbelief that came from the on looking spectators, clad in too many strange costumes to count, Lex focused on the precise angle at which to hit the ball. Drawing her stick back and steadying her arm, she watched, as all of her calls became truth. Challenging Logan with a gloating smile, she proceeded to call every single one of her shots, without missing a single one. Rounding the table as a final black ball taunted her she scrutinized the table. "Ok, eight ball, side pocket," she indicated it with her stick again and drew back. As if by precedent, she sunk the shot flawlessly, eliciting an uproar of murmurs from the shocked crowd. Walking over to Logan, Lex threw an arm around his sunken shoulders, "Awww, need a hug?" she teased before tousling his spiky hair and making her way back over to where Max and Original Cindy were sitting.  
  
"Way to show 'em, Baby Boo," Cindy raised her mug and laughed.  
  
"Well, well, well," Jondy turned to Alec with a condescending smirk, "I do believe I just made $500."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Well, who loves me? Here it's after 1 a.m. (officially Xmas, yee-ha [( sarcasm. Many will confirm I'm the Grinch]) and I stayed up extra late to finish this before I left tomorrow.. well, later today. So I'd better get a buttload of reviews or I'll put off the engagement for yet another chapter! Mwuahahahaha! 


	18. Butterflies and Basketball

A/N: Kristi steps up to the podium Ok, before yous all bludgeon me to death with your keyboards, lemme give you the Reader's Digest version of what is a very, very, very long story. (note the use of multiple very-s.) It took me long enough to finally get this chapter going after Christmas break, but having to see my dad's family always does that to me. But I get a nice pattern going, my muse is being cooperative for change, and I'm on Cloud Nine thinking I would have this up by the end of January. Then I get to the final scene (of which I'm sure you all know its contents) and I start to get a little stuck. But after a mental meltdown, I get through it! And I actually liked what I wrote for once! Then came February 5th- I was in the IMC during lunch finishing up my last A/N and waiting for the Internet to open so I could upload the chapter. One of my friends calls me over to her to find a book, so of course, I go. Not two minutes later, I go back to my computer, go to access my floppy disk, but the computer tells me the A drive isn't working. I grumble and roll my eyes, thinking it was the computer's fault, and try again. Same message. So I go to reach out and jiggle the disk, but my finger meets nothing. My disk was gone. And I only save my chapters onto that floppy. Not my H drive, not the G drive, not another disk- that one and only that one. Here I had this 14-page chapter written, and now I was at square one. Ever since then, there has been a huge problem with peoples' floppy disks being taken right out of the drives when they get to see some one, get things from the printer, etc. So since then, I've been rebuilding this chapter based on what I had in my memory. And being the brilliant-beyond-brilliant person that I am, I neglected to look at the screen half the time, so my brain gives me a million pictures of arbitrary points in space, piles of homework I wasn't doing, shadow puppets my fish looked like it was making with its tail, but nothing I could have used. So this everything could resurrect or rewrite until it seemed good. Then, as if the situation couldn't possibly get any worse, my computer gets a virus the day after I finish this leaving me with no internet connection for the past two weeks. Which wouldn't have been so terribly bad my mom hadn't taken it upon herself to decide that it would just so gosh-darn nice if the family gave up the internet for Lent. She got our internet service cancelled while I was at school, and since the computers at school have the world's strictest content advisors, there wasn't much I could do but wait for Easter. It's times like these I hate being Catholic. rolls eyes Thank you to anyone who is still reading this or even remotely playing attention. I still don't have my disk back either, by the way.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
Chapter 18: Butterflies and Basketball  
Tenth Street Park Sunday, November 2nd 1:35 p.m.  
  
"C'mon, make your move," Max locked into an unremitting stare with her daughter. Mentally calculating the angles at which Lex could dribble the ball around her, she allotted just enough power to stop her. If Lex won her third game in a row, she'd spend the rest of the gloating relentlessly over the fact that she had defeated the self-proclaimed Queen of Basketball yet again. Max still wasn't usually apt to play when there wasn't any cash laying on the game, but this one was for pride. Well, that and the right to gain back her proverbial crown. Logan had decided to stay home, making the excuse that he had some informants to call, but Max knew he'd just been trying to cover his ass. Lex had already shamed him on the court once, not to mention at pool and chess. "Gotta put some dignity on that delicate male ego somehow," Max thought to herself with a rueful smirk. "Right or left, Lex, take your pick."  
  
Meeting Max's stare, Lex figured she'd already noted her options. Listening carefully, Lex decided that the people closest to them were about three hundred yards to the upper left behind a grove of trees. "Too far to see or hear anything," she reasoned, dropping the ball and charging straight ahead and starting to jump clear over Max. Leaping up to catch her, Max's fingers just barely missed Lex's side as she suddenly pulled herself down and to the right, running and dunking the ball with ease. "Oh yeah!" Lex cheered as she began her victory dance. "Face it Mom, you're not as young as you used to be," she walked over and rumpled Max's hair just like Max did to her when she was a child.  
  
"Lucky move," Max gulped down the remaining contents of her water bottle.  
  
"The Queen's one hell of a sore loser," Lex laughed. "And here you're the one that complained that we never do this anymore. Or was that before you remembered that I can totally kick your ass."  
  
"I'm not complaining. Just stop gloating," Max sighed and smiled.  
  
"Ok, spill," Lex sat down next to Max and crossed her arms.  
  
"Spill? About what?" Max shrugged.  
  
"Mother.." Lex narrowed her eyes.  
  
"No, honestly, what?" Max racked her brain.  
  
"You keep getting that spacey look in your eyes. And that's that patented Max Guevara 'something's-bothering-me-but-I'm-too-proud-to-say-anything' look."  
  
Her eyes widening like a deer caught in headlights, Max tried to keep her cool exterior intact, "Are you sure you're ok?"  
  
"I'm fine," Lex emphasized. "Nice try, but I know you better than that."  
  
"Fine, I just feel like both you and Jondy are keeping something from me," Max reluctantly fessed up. "And I wanna know what it is."  
  
Now it was Lex's turn to flinch inwardly. "It's nothing," she lied.  
  
"Really? Because you two have been pretty quiet. Especially Jondy, which I would never have believed unless I'd seen it myself," Max began to wonder of she really was making something out of nothing.  
  
"We don't have a secret," Lex chose her words carefully. Technically, that wasn't a lie. It was Logan who had the secret. She and Jondy, and Brittany, just happened to know what it was. And Max would find out what it was. Eventually, he's gotta do it, Lex reasoned inwardly.  
  
"Hey, what time is it?" Max grabbed Lex's wrist to look at her watch. "If we hurry, we can meet up with Jondy for lunch, she got off at 1:30."  
  
"And I can tell her all about my pretty new crown," Lex adjusted an imaginary crown on top of her head.  
  
"Don't get so used to it, Your Majesty," Max rolled her eyes and loaded up her bag.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Denatto's Pizza parlor 1:57 p.m.  
  
"She started asking," Lex warned Jondy when Max got up to go to the bathroom. "About.?" Jondy made sure she was hearing Lex right.  
  
"Well, not that flat out," Lex referred to the ring. "But she said she thought we were hiding something from her."  
  
"Well what'd you say?"  
  
"I said we didn't have a secret. Which is technically true, because it's Dad who's hiding something. We just know what it is."  
  
"Ooo, sneaky. I like it," Jondy nodded in approval. "But he'd better do it soon. And it had better one hell of a plan to require this much time."  
  
"Maybe he's scared she'll say no," Lex shrugged.  
  
"C'mon, she moved back her and lives with him. So long as he knows the littlest, most remote thing about her, he knows how much that means. And they're practically married already. All that's missing is a little piece of paper making Max's last name Cale."  
  
"Good point," Lex agreed.  
  
"Hey, I don't remember is I ever asked you this, but would ever change your last name. You know, if Max does. Or if they have any other kids."  
  
"No," Lex shook her head.  
  
"Care to elaborate?" Jondy prodded, finding Lex's answer rather hasty, like this was something she'd thought about before.  
  
"It'd just be too. weird, you know? Like, I'm not a Cale. I never have been and now moving to a new city doesn't change that."  
  
"Your last name is your line of consistency."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"You think you'll be getting any little brothers or sisters?"  
  
Lex shrugged, "I could really care less. I mean, say they do have more kids. I'll be closing in on sixteen by the time the first one would be born. And by the time that kid could hold a conversation or play basketball, I'll be moving out. So they really wouldn't be a like brother or sister at all, it would take a good twenty, maybe thirty years for the age gap to sort of even itself out."  
  
"Do I detect a hint of bitterness?" Jondy was a bit surprised.  
  
"No, not bitter- realistic," Lex corrected, cocking her head in Max's direction, who was heading back to the table.  
  
"What?" Max looked between the two, as she sat down to silence.  
  
"Just making jokes at your expense," Lex covered easily, putting front a grin.  
  
"Wow, what I shame I missed that," Max sarcastically snapped her fingers.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jam Pony Monday, November 3rd 10:32 a.m.  
  
"Where the hell did you go, Boo?" Original Cindy waved her hand in front of Max's void face, snapping her back to reality. "You aiight? You just went off into yo' own little world there."  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking."  
  
"About the "big secret" again?"  
  
"Yeah," Max sighed. "but, c'mon, I need to get my mind on something else. I hear you scored some sugga's number last night."  
  
"Yeah, but ain't nothin gonna happen. Another science fiction girl."  
  
"Maybe you can give her number to Normal," Max laughed.  
  
"He does seem to know they type," Cindy cracked up. "Or Sketchy; foo' wouldn't be able to tell the difference."  
  
"Save whatever half-brained humor amuses you lowlifes for after work. Runs. Go. Now," Normal walked up behind the two at the counter and tossed them a pile of packages.  
  
Caught off guard, Max and Original Cindy  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Thursday, November 6th 12:17 p.m. The Penthouse  
  
Logan nervously glanced across the kitchen at Lex as a tight knot formed in his stomach. Despite the feeling that he had begun to form a bond with her, he couldn't seem to bring himself to speak. Everything had been arranged and tomorrow night he was finally going to do it. He was going to ask Max to marry him. The only left to do was tell Lex. "C'mon," he mentally scolded himself. "What the hell are you so afraid of? That she'll throw a tantrum and try to stop you?"  
  
"What?" Lex looked up from her laptop when she felt Logan's eyes on her for too long.  
  
"Um," Logan took a deep breath, "Lex, can you, uh, keep a secret?"  
  
"Have I made myself out to be an overtly talkative person?" Lex set the computer beside her as well as the bowl of ramen noodles she was eating. Studying the hesitation in his eyes, Lex smiled inwardly and quipped to herself, "Buddy, I've been holding this secret for a damn long time."  
  
"What would say if I told you I was going to ask Max to marry me?" Logan blurted out.  
  
"It's about damn time," Lex leaned back and crossed her arms. Noting that Logan didn't let out the breath he was holding, she loosened up and smiled, "That means ok."  
  
Heaving a sigh of relief, Logan smiled back, "Good, good. That's good."  
  
"Need a thesaurus?" Lex tried to lift the tension that had settled between them. She briefly debated whether or not to tell Logan she'd known of his intentions for far longer than she cared to think about. "What has it been? Six weeks now?" Lex combed through her mental calendar. Deciding to wait on gloating until after she'd relayed the news to Jondy and Brittany, she realized she was still missing one vital piece of information. "So, when?" she asked Logan.  
  
"Tomorrow night, I have everything arranged."  
  
"Guess that's my cue to get lost," Lex laughed.  
  
"Actually no, I wasn't gonna do it here, so where you go is your call."  
  
"Well, I was gonna head over to Aunt Jondy's anyway," Lex partially lied. She'd been meaning to spend more time with her aunt, but in reality she wanted to buy herself some time before she faced the two of them. Unsure of what to say next, it was all Lex could do not to squeal when her cell phone rang. It was the perfect way to bow out of the kitchen.  
  
"Hello?" Lex answered as she dug the phone out of her backpack.  
  
"Hey. You ok? You sound flustered," Kayla was more used to Lex answering her phone with an indifferent mumble.  
  
"Um, yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Lex gathered her things and made her way to her room. "Guess what Dad just told me."  
  
"He's gonna do it?!" Kayla's voice rose in excitement.  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Why does it seem wrong that I'm a hell of a lot more excited about this than you are?"  
  
"Stuff like this is weird for me, you know that," Lex shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, but you could still show a little enthusiasm," Kayla threw her eyes up to the ceiling. "What he'd say when you told him you knew?"  
  
"I didn't. First I wanna tell Aunt Jondy and Brittany about it."  
  
"Ok, so when? Where? How? C'mon, give me something to go off of," Kayla begged.  
  
"Tomorrow night, not here."  
  
"That's it?"  
  
"Yeah," Lex laughed. "What more should I have asked?"  
  
"All the little sappy romantic details," Kayla cooed.  
  
"Ooo, yeah! And then we could, like, sit around and talk about it while we paint our nails pink and look at pretty dresses," Lex said in a high- pitched voice that dripped with sarcasm.  
  
"That was uncalled for," Kayla mumbled.  
  
"You ask for it," Lex laughed, shaking her head and digging behind her pillows for a remote.  
  
"Well if you're not gonna tell me anything else now, what cha doing?"  
  
"Watching a movie," Lex started up the disc inside her DVD player.  
  
"You wanna tell me which one?" Kayla walked over to the rack next to her own TV.  
  
".random acts of unpredictability? If we fail to anticipate the unforeseen or expect the unexpected in a universe of infinite possibilities, we may find ourselves at the mercy of anyone or anything that cannot be programmed, categorized or easily referenced," Lex recited the lines verbatim along with the movie.  
  
"Have I told you recently that your obsession with The X-Files is bordering on unhealthy?" Kayla instantly recognized Mulder's line from the beginning of the movie.  
  
"You have now," Lex grinned. "But isn't it just as sad that you have all the stuff and know it just as well as I do?"  
  
"It's your fault. You got me into it," Kayla skipped ahead once her disk started playing. "Now c'mon, pause yours so I can catch up. It's my turn to be Scully," she smiled, referring to the game they used to play as kids, each taking a character's lines and seeing who could imitate them better.  
  
"Fine, but keep in mind you're going head to head with the master."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Friday, November 7th Jam Pony 9:57 a.m.  
  
"So what's this big night you got with Lover Boy?" Original Cindy nudged Max with her elbow, waggling her eyebrows.  
  
"It's just dinner," Max shrugged, trying to mask the grin that fought to spread across her face.  
  
"Boo, that's what you always used to say. And that was a helluva lot more than just dinner."  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Yeah, I believe you call it Lex," Cindy crossed her arms.  
  
"Funny, very funny," Max quipped as she picked up the package lying on the bench and shoved it in her backpack.  
  
Sighing, Cindy shook her head, "Original Cindy ain't tryin' to be funny. I just Logan might have a little something up his sleeve here. The big secret maybe," she emphasized the last sentence with a wave of her hands. Max opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't find the right words to say before Cindy cut her off, "Uh-uh. Not this time. We're gonna get you all girly-ed up tonight and I don't wanna hear any whinin' about it."  
  
"But-," Max started  
  
"Nope," Cindy stuck up her hand. "No way you're talkin' yo' ass outta this one," she grinned as she turned Max towards the ramp leading out in the bitter fall drizzle.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Jondy's Apartment 6:27 p.m.  
  
"Hold still for two minutes, will ya?" Jondy pleaded through a mouthful of bobby pins as she struggled to keep a hold of Max's hair.  
  
"What are you doing to me?" Max reached up to feel what Jondy was calling her latest 'masterpiece'.  
  
"Max, it looks great. And it'll be even better if you don't move your head," Brittany assured her.  
  
"Keep you hands still while you're at it," Lex shook up a bottle of white nail polish. "It's hard enough to work with these stubs you call nails."  
  
"Mmmm, Original Cindy knows what that's all about, baby boo," Cindy smiled as she meticulously applied Max's eye shadow.  
  
"Is all this really necessary? Do you guys know something I don't?" Max whined for the millionth time since they'd started their work a half an hour ago.  
  
As Jondy, Lex, and Brittany exchanged cautious glances, Original Cindy just laughed and shook her head, "Yeah, we know about the girly arts."  
  
"Exactly," Brittany quickly agreed.  
  
"Alright," Jondy stepped back and smile triumphantly. "How does that look?"  
  
"Girl, you got some hidden talent there!" Cindy smiled.  
  
"Nails are done, but not dry," Lex and Brittany finished up the topcoat and waved away some of the collecting fumes.  
  
"Now can I see a mirror?" Max cocked her head over towards the couch, where all the rest of the bottles and cases were.  
  
"C'mon, for the full effect you gotta look in a big one," Jondy guided Max down the hall to the bathroom.  
  
Seeing the reflection that greeted her, Max opened her mouth, but couldn't find what to say. Small sections of her hair had been brought up into loose buns on the top corners of her head, with the tendrils coming down and blending into the rest of her softly curled hair. The light brown eye shadow and lipstick came to blend into her skin, enhancing both her stare and her pout. "I like it," she finally nodded with approval.  
  
"You'd better, after all the slaving I did," Jondy laughed.  
  
"Your nails should be dry in a few minutes, so I'll go find your dress," Lex backed out the doorway.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Space Needle 7:15 p.m.  
  
"You'd think scaling something heels would be easier than that," Max shook her head as she walked into the old tower. "I mean, these things are so pointy, they seem like should stick in something." Logan, stopping in his tracks, tried beyond hope to stifle a laugh. "What?" Max looked over shoulder.  
  
"You," Logan smiled with a wave of his hand.  
  
"Well, do I get something more than a 'you clean up nice' this time?" Max asked with a smirk, sauntering over to where Logan had stopped in his tracks.  
  
"Hell yes," he grinned as he lowered his lips to hers for a long, lingering kiss. He had tried to pry details about Max's dress out of Jondy, but she never acquiesced. And, of course, being true to her nature, she had joked that 'Logan Jr.' wouldn't be disappointed, making his face flush into about twenty different shades of red. But she was right; the overlapping layers of black silk came into points just below Max's knees, but left enough length in the slits to tease her thighs. Hugging every curve along the way, it them came up to outline her impressive cleavage, which was usually hidden from anyone's view. Pulling back into reality, Logan smiled down at her, resting his hands on her hips. "You look incredible."  
  
"So do you," Max brought his mouth back down to meet hers, his charcoal- colored suit driving her libido crazy. "So you gonna tell me why I had to get all girlied-up or you makin' my guess?"  
  
"You'll find out soon enough," Logan promised, willing his eyes to look at something other than her chest before it entailed physical pain.  
  
After a pleasantly quiet meal of Poulet chez Cale, which Max openly admitted she could never get tired of, Logan took a deep breath, and a long gulp of wine, as he gathered his nerves.  
  
"Logan, are you ok?" Max's heightened senses picked up his slight but sudden change in demeanor.  
  
"No, yes, um," Logan's brain and tongue were out of sync. "Um, I hope so."  
  
"Logan.?" Max furrowed her brow. Now she was positive the evening had some ulterior motive behind it.  
  
Standing up, Logan fell back on his more traditional ways and dropped to one knee beside Max, taking her hand.  
  
"Oh my god," Max gasped, barely above a whisper as she knew what was about to happen.  
  
"Max Guevara," he ignored her comment, mostly for his own sanity, "from the moment I met you, you've filled my every thought, dream, and fantasy. You saved me in more ways than I can count and gave me a reason to wake up every morning. When you left, I was sure I could never find another reason to smile. The only thing that kept me going was the belief that you were alive and you still loved me. Now that you're back again, I don't know how I got through those years when just a thought was enough. I love you and need you in every way possible," Logan reached into his pocket and took out a little black box and slowly opened the top to reveal a ring that nearly took Max's breath away. Sitting atop a gold band was a deep red ruby, donned with tiny, shimmering diamonds on each of its sides, "Will you marry me?"  
  
For a second that seemed to stretch into eternity, Max stared into Logan's eyes, dumbfounded and speechless. A little voice in the back of her head started screaming, "Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god! You will not cry! Don't cry! Holy shit, this is actually happening! Say something! Words! Now! One word will do!" Drawing in a deep breath and trying to blink her forming tears, Max tentatively opened her mouth, hoping to whatever higher power was out there that the right words would come out. Her lips formed a cheshire cat grin as she nodded fervently, "Yes," she whispered.  
  
Without any words to break their gaze, Logan slipped the ring on her finger and cradled her face in his hands as his face rose to meet hers in a long, sensual kiss. Max snaked her fingers through is hair as that little voice peeped up again, "Max Cale. Better get used to it."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Ignore the chapter after this one- it's the same. For some reason the site uploaded it twice. And given the way it's been working for me, I'd rather not push my luck trying to delete it. And to answer AngelZ's question- let's say for this fic that Logan can walk. When Joshua's blood cured him of the virus, it repaired his spinal cord as well. Never realized I hadn't mentioned that, so thanks!  
  
Well, between bad luck, grounding, Lent, and procrastination out the wazoo, that certainly took long enough. But now that DA is really so over and done with (and I haven't watched any of my tapes since Freak Nation aired), my DA-mode just hasn't been happening. Now really- how many of you are reading this? Because after this chapter took so long, I'm not sure if it's in me to continue this story. Yes, I know I'm a review junkie who has begged on, oh, every chapter before, but really, I would expect that most of yous have lost interest after so long. So if you want to see another chapter- speak now or forever hold your peace. (heehee, wedding joke..) 


	19. Looking Through You

A/N: Well, I think I'm officially among the undead now. (X-Files humor? Lost on everyone but me? Thought so.) Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing. I'm doing my best to get back into the swing of things and get this project back off the ground. I had to go back and reacquaint myself the story and its timeline- I didn't even remember what month I was in. But now that that's over and done with, I'll just shut up and get on with the show. Oh- and someone asked me about Logan's walking-status, and to answer their question, he can walk on his own- no more paralysis. When I was digging WAMM up for a friend, I noticed I had Sam Carr tell Max in the very first chapter. (Seems like forever ago, doesn't it? Lol.)  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 19: Looking Through You  
  
Jondy's Apartment 8:30 p.m.  
  
"Everything aiight with Baby Boo over there?" Original Cindy peered into the living room, where slumped on the couch, seemingly uninterested in whatever she had been watching on TV.  
  
Glancing over towards Brittany, Jondy sighed and nervously drummed her fingers on her beer can. Brittany nodded her head, pushing Jondy to speak up.  
  
"Alright, you shouldn't be kept out of the loop any longer," lowering her voice as she walked over towards Cindy. "Logan's proposing tonight. We would have told you earlier, but Max was here, so.."  
  
"Well it's about damn time!" Original Cindy beamed and clasped her hands together. "But, why are we suddenly being so quiet?" she lowered her own voice to match Jondy's.  
  
Before Jondy had a chance to answer, Lex bolted off the couch and out the door, causing all three women to spin their heads in that direction.  
  
"Because someone has a few issues she's trying to suppress," Jondy headed out after Lex, motioning for Cindy and Brittany to stay put.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Finding Lex perched on the roof, Jondy wordlessly assumed her same position, legs hanging over the ledge and resting her arms and chin on the bar that ran around the building's top. When Lex made no indication that she was going to start talking, Jondy broke the heavy silence. "I thought you were ok with all this," she reached out and kneaded Lex's shoulder.  
  
"I am, I guess," Lex didn't shrug off the touch, but didn't relax either. "I mean, they already live in the same place, now it'll just be on paper, right?"  
  
"That's yourself you're trying to convince there," Jondy turned to face her niece. "Now listen, I've seen you nearly every single day since you came screaming into this world- I know damn well you're hiding something. Now spill, because you know I'm not leaving you alone until you do."  
  
"It's not my place to complain," Lex still alluded Jondy's gentle pestering.  
  
"Yes it is," Jondy shook her head, "It's not like you'll be completely unaffected by this."  
  
"It's just something more to get used to," Lex shrugged. "And it' not like I'm not happy for them. I mean, after all the shit they've been through, they deserve to be happy. It's just still really. weird to me, you know? Having two parents instead of one. And Mom never dated, or even looked twice at a guy, so having a man around all the time is strange to me, even after almost five months. And say they have a baby- my only experience with little kids involves giving them back after a few hours, which was always my favorite part. And I still only have one friend in this whole city, whom I can't even see that often because of where she lives and where we go to school. And I'm stuck around all these rich kids all day who do nothing but talk about how much better they are than everyone else. And now there's talk about that stupid what's-it-called ball; I don't even know what the hell Brittany's talking about, so I'm getting sucked into that world, which is most defiantly not a good thing. And.," Lex let out all in one huge, transgenic breath, "sometimes I wish I could just change everything back," she finished in a whisper.  
  
Smiling softly, Jondy wrapped a protective arm around Lex's shoulders, "Well, I wouldn't wanna trade places with you, but you know you gotta just roll with the punches sometimes. You can look at the bright side and see that now you know your father, which always bothered you before; you have a good school to go to; it's obvious that Max seems genuinely happier; and, Kayla would have moved anyway, all this had nothing to do with that."  
  
"Or you can look at the crappy side and see things my way," Lex quipped.  
  
"Sometimes you're even more of a cynic than Max is," Jondy let out a laugh- like sigh. "So how should we blow off that extra steam of yours? Chocolate? Bikes? Violence?"  
  
"That last one sounds good," Lex nodded.  
  
"Ok, one of your ten million Tekken games?"  
  
"Nope," Lex hopped back off the ledge and took of few steps back, "me versus you."  
  
"I like the way you think," Jondy grinned and joined Lex in the open space. "You're goin' down!"  
  
"You wish," Lex mockingly cracked her knuckles and crouched into a fighting stance.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Saturday, November 8th 7:30 p.m.  
  
"You're gonna have to go home sometime," Jondy nudged Lex affectionately.  
  
"Yeah, you didn't strike me as the timid type," Tera pointed the Lex with her chopsticks, her mouth full of Kung Pow chicken.  
  
"I am not timid," Lex rolled her eyes. "Or scared, or a wuss, or afraid, or scared or. anything else," she cut in, seeing Jondy open her mouth to say something.  
  
"No, you just said 'scared' twice," Jondy chided, knowing Lex's habit of repeating herself when she was lying.  
  
"I'm fine," Lex fell back on her favorite defense mechanism.  
  
"Need we go over your fifteen million definitions of 'fine'," Max made her presence known as she strode into the kitchen. "I've come to collect my daughter," she said, popping one of Jondy's noodles into her mouth.  
  
"That's just dandy, but aren't you forgetting something," Jondy urged Max on with her hands.  
  
"What?" Max fought to keep a straight face.  
  
"We gonna see it or not?!" she grabbed Max's wrist.  
  
Max took off the glove on her right hand, revealing the sparkling ring now adorned on her finger.  
  
"Holy shit," Jondy breathed as she examined it, "do you have any idea how much we could have fenced a piece like this for?!"  
  
"Jondy!" Max laughed.  
  
"What? It was in past tense. And c'mon, like that thought hasn't crossed your mind."  
  
"Irregardless," Max stifled another laugh as she rolled her eyes and turned to Lex, "do you plan on coming home anytime soon?" she asked in a motherly tone that implied it was more of a command than a question.  
  
"Yeah, sure, why not?" Lex sighed and forced out a small smile. Gathering her things, she bid goodbye to three remaining in the kitchen and head out the door behind Max.  
  
Lex breathed in the crisp night air as she tried to gather her nerve and say something to her mother. The temperature had dipped quite a bit lower than usual, she noted as she watched her breath form white clouds in front of her face. Not that it bothered her, though, with her transgenic DNA to help along her physical indifference to the winter-esq weather.  
  
"Well, you're being eerily quiet," Max tried to read what was going on in her daughter's mind. She'd expect Lex to be a little uneasy about the idea of she and Logan getting married, but she had hoped for something other than a total shutout.  
  
"I. I'm really happy for you, Mom. For both of you- you know that," Lex stumbled slightly over her words. "You just know I'm not really too good at this. whole. kinda thing," she tried to indicate what she was referring to with a hand gesture. "You know --big things, like this." Lex let a smile spread across her lips, hoping Max wouldn't be able to see its forced nature.  
  
"You're not just trying to tell me what I want to hear?" Max asked, even though she knew she'd an affirmative answer.  
  
"I'm not- I mean, this was gonna happen sooner or later, right?"  
  
"Right," Max gave a brief nod, reaching out to rub Lex's shoulders.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Penthouse 11:34 p.m.  
  
Logan leaned back against the headboard of the bed and smiled to himself as he watched the sight in front of him. Max stood at the sink in the bathroom, brushing her teeth and tapping her finger on the counter to whatever song was stuck in her head at that particular moment. He had known for several months now that moments such as these weren't in a limited quantity anymore, but knowing that they'd legally be his forever just put a new, and oddly pleasing, twist on the thought, he mused.  
  
"You know," Max halted her movements without even turning to look at him, "unless you've recently developed some sort of telekinetic super powers and failed to tell me, no matter how hard you stare, my shirt is staying on," she made a gesture with her toothbrush on the last word.  
  
"Darn it," Logan laughed as he snapped his fingers.  
  
Max gave him one of her 'I'm-trying-my-damndest-not-to-be-amused-by-you' looks as she climbed into bed side him and clicked off the light, grabbing the covers and wrapping them around her shoulder as she yawned.  
  
"Max?" Logan asked after a few minutes, laying the backs of his fingers on the exposed skin of neck.  
  
"Unummm," Max groaned. "How can you not be tired?" she mumbled, turning over to face him, but not opening her eyes.  
  
"No, not that," Logan grinned and shook his head. His face straightening, he changed the subject, "What I was actually going to ask was whether or not you though Lex was acting. differently tonight."  
  
"Yup," Max nodded sleepily.  
  
"Well, care to elaborate?"  
  
Seeing she wasn't to be getting any sleep, she sighed and looked up into Logan's genuinely confused eyes, "She's just being stand-off-ish because this whole idea is strange to her. But don't go asking her what she thinks about it or if she's ok, that'll only annoy her."  
  
"So, in other words, she's being enigmatic like you and just not talking about something that's bothering her," Logan summed up.  
  
"You know, you're not exactly Mr. Heart-On-Your-Sleeve, either," Max reminded him.  
  
"But you don't think she's mad, at me, or anything like that do you," Logan skipped over Max's comment.  
  
"I know she's not," Max assured him with a lingering kiss to the temple, stroking his cheek. "Now can I go to sleep?"  
  
"Tired from last night?" Logan waggled his eyebrows.  
  
Max yawned, and mumbled, "Ooo, yeah. You 'da man."  
  
"Hey, what ever happened to not damaging my "delicate male ego"?" Logan laughed as Max laid her head on his shoulder and smiled. "I'm going to pretend there wasn't any sarcasm in your voice there," he tightened an arm around her waist and closed his eyes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sunday, November 9th 12:40 p.m.  
  
Lex walked in the kitchen from retrieving the mail with a scowl on her face.  
  
"Might I ask what the face is for?" Logan looked up from the article he was reading in the paper.  
  
"Seeing as how your family doesn't even know I exist, they technically wouldn't miss me," she tossed the dreaded debutant ball invitation in Logan direction.  
  
"About time this came," Logan picked up the intricately decorated parchment, reading it over.  
  
"Yay," Lex made no attempt to hide her lack of excitement.  
  
"You wouldn't even wanna just stick it out for one night?" Logan asked.  
  
Her expression staying steadfast, Lex extended her right hand, "Hi, I'm Lex, I don't believe we've met. No, of course I wouldn't," she used her hand to give Logan a sarcastic smack on the side of the head.  
  
"Well, too bad, because you're going to go and suffer with the rest of us," in a tone so parent-like it almost sounded strange to him. Putting a foot down in an argument was still a role virtually always left to Max.  
  
"But that thing says "Logan Cale and Guest"," Lex pointed out, obviously pleased with herself for making that observation. "Mom's obviously gonna be your guest, so that leaves me here."  
  
"Who do you think Brittany's guest is gonna be?" Logan matched her indulgent grin as Lex's face fell immediately.  
  
"Fine," Lex spit out between clenched teeth, putting an end to their staring contest. "But nothing pink!"  
  
"Pink isn't a 'winter color' anyway."  
  
"And you would know that because."  
  
"Because those are the important thins you learn growing up in the blur- collar world," Logan laughed. "If I remember correctly, I think you can pick between red, green, black, dark blue, or something like those. But I had it easier- all I needed to decide was tux or designer suit."  
  
"You're sure I couldn't just wear a pantsuit?" Lex whined in a last-ditch effort.  
  
"Sorry," Logan shrugged. "Rules are rules."  
  
"What exactly are the behavior rules? Stricter than usual I'm guessing."  
  
"Just don't do or say anything Max suggests. Rule of thumb," Logan joked, pleased to see that it brought a smile to Lex's face.  
  
Nodding, Lex backed out of the kitchen to finish up some homework she had yet to get to. Unzipping her backpack, Lex laughed to herself as she wondered how Logan's supposedly snobby family, especially Margo, would react to seeing her and Max. Part of her was looking forward to a good show, but she couldn't help that a small part of her wanted to make a good impression.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Well, I finally finished it! After I read through Skin Game, all the way, I sat my ass down and got to work. For those of you who don't visit either the DA board at FF or DAR, I'll reiterate again what I've decided to do regarding the rest of this story: I will finish COF. I can promise you all that much. But I plan to end it with this story- no third installment to make it a series. I don't know exactly how far I'll be taking this story, exactly how many chapters there will be, or what the hell I'm gonna do to bring it to a close, but given my wavering interest in DA in general, I do plan for this story to end the fic's run. And as always, I haven't proofread this chapter and am still beta-less, so please excuse all the errors there were. 


	20. What Could Have Been

A/N: My forgetfulness has reached a whole new level of pathetic. See, when I write a chapter, I always write it through, but then go back and extend the scenes to build up on the story- it's how I edit. So I go to work on this here little story, and the last thing I find on my floppy disk is Ch. 19. Now of course I don't remember what I ended on the last time I worked on this. So I open it, I start extending the scenes, I write about 4 more pages, and- wow! - I'm ready to post. So I go online, get signed in here, and what do I see? That I have already posted Ch. 19. It was finished. And mother of shit, did I feel stupid. Lol.  
  
**So listen up**- The two 'big, important' scenes in Ch. 19 have been extended by quite a bit. Should you do desire, there's something else for you to read.  
  
Other than that- I know this took so long, yada yada yada; I'm sorry, so on and so on; I'm lazy, etc. and all other excuses/apologies.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Chapter 20: What Could Have Been  
  
Terminal City Monday, November 10th 9:40 p.m.  
  
"That still eatin' you?" Tera nudged Lex with her footing as she bit at her pen cap. As much as Tera loved sciences classes, she loathed to no end the math courses she was required to take along with them.  
  
"What? The fact that I am, in fact, transgenic, but the sight of a dog-man and a six foot tall lizard still weirds me out me out in a major way," Lex answered flatly as she stared blankly at the command post, where Joshua and Mole were talking about something on one of the computer screens.  
  
"Well, that's because you grew up with normal humans and two X5s- who look totally human," Tera shrugged as she looked up from her textbook. "But that's not what I meant."  
  
"Then what are you getting at?" Lex tried to keep the dance around the bush going.  
  
"It's that engagement deal getting you down isn't it?"  
  
"Let's drop it," Lex turned her eyes to Tera.  
  
"What, you don't wanna go hand out over there," she gestured to the squealing group of X-series that had formed around Max, including Gem, to see the ring for themselves. "Or are we not feeling very squealy right now?"  
  
"Why is everyone so worried about me?" Lex threw her head against the back of the couch. "Believe me, if I was pissed or sad about this I'd be holed up in my room skulking and bitching, not here," she let out a wry laugh.  
  
"Hey, 'few say so," Tera shrugged.  
  
"Don't you have homework you should be doing?"  
  
"Well, yeah. I started drawing the unit circle, but then I got side tracked and turned it into a doodle of a sheep."  
  
"A sheep?" Lex leaned forward curiously.  
  
Tera shrugged, "Last week one of my sine curves somehow turned itself into a birthday cake."  
  
"You do realize you could just memorize what you have to put where in less than a minute, right?"  
  
"Sure, but since I'm never gonna need any of this crap, why bother? Anything useful will stick around in the back of my mind anyway, I might as well draw some of these high-class works of art while I'm at it," Tera winked.  
  
Meanwhile, Max climbed the steps leading to the command post where Joshua and Dix were arguing with Mole about something or other.  
  
"Hey, Max!" Dix jumped up excitedly when he saw her approach. "Congratulations, I heard the news about you and Logan."  
  
"Yeah, I, uh think it's sweet," Mole gave her a slight nod and brief pat on the shoulder, which for him was a rather large display of affection.  
  
"Little Fella!" Joshua scooped Max into a giant bear hug. While the total concept of marriage was still a little lost him, all he needed to see was the smile in Max's eyes to know it was something to get excited about.  
  
"Hey there, Big Fella," Max smiled and choked out. "Lighten up, you're gonna break a few ribs," she laughed.  
  
"Sorry," Joshua gently put her back on the ground. "Max and Logan, getting' married, in the summer?" He asked, in his way of seeing if what he'd heard was true.  
  
"Yeah," Max nodded, but was a little confused. "How'd you know that?"  
  
"Cindy was down here yesterday," Dix smiled. "And Tera told Gem."  
  
"I should have figured as much."  
  
"Well I hate run off, but we have to get something checked out on one of the cameras," Dix gestured to himself and Mole. "Maybe we'll see you again later," he waved, grabbing a few supplies as he headed out.  
  
"Where's Logan," Joshua looked around, expecting to find him.  
  
"He had some work he had to finish. An article, his deadline's coming up," Max said, noticing a look of confusion come across Joshua's face. "Why?"  
  
"Joshua thought married people stay together. Cindy said," Joshua shook his head.  
  
"Well, yeah, married people live together and do a lot of thing with each other, but that doesn't mean they have to go everywhere together all the time," Max tried to clear the idea up.  
  
"But, Little Fella already does that?" Joshua asked, not seeing any difference.  
  
"Yes, but now it'll just be official."  
  
"Official," Joshua repeated, liking the sound of that.  
  
"You get it now?" Max smiled up at the towering canine.  
  
"Yeah, Joshua gets it."  
  
"Ah, Max, always so helpful," Alec joked as he came up behind them. "So I hear you have this ring that'd bring in a rather nice supply of dead presidents," Alec picked up her wrist to get a closer look.  
  
"That an invitation for me to laugh or break your jaw?"  
  
"Aw, c'mon, Maxie. Don't I deserve a little credit here?"  
  
"Not when you call me 'Maxie', you don't," Max pulled her wrist away.  
  
"Well there's the last time I try and extend some friendly congratulations," Alec laughed.  
  
"Oh, that's what that was?" Max smiled.  
  
"You know what comes now, right?" Alec hinted, a sly expression snaking across his face.  
  
"No, but what reason would it give you to get excited?" Max unsure this was going in a good direction.  
  
"The bachelor party," Alec waggled his eyebrows. One thing he would frown about was the prospect of strippers and beer, especially when they came together, Alec mused, laughing to himself as he tacked on the inward thought, "no pun intended."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Tuesday, November 11th 12:25 p.m.  
  
"You were up and out early this morning," Logan turned around to see Lex coming in through the penthouse's double doors.  
  
"Yeah, well, I had something to take care of," Lex brushed past him briskly, disappearing down the hall without taking her eyes off the floorboards. She was holding onto the straps of her backpack rather tightly, which, unusually, as Logan were on both of her shoulders, instead of slung over just the left one. While Lex still wasn't usually much of a conversationalist, it was obvious to Logan that she up to something and didn't want him to know what. She hadn't said anything about his birthday, either, which bothered him in the back of his mind. When Max had had her birthday back in July, Lex playfully teased her for a week before then about how old she was getting. Logan surely didn't need to be reminded of his age, but Lex's resurfacing aloofness made him feel once again like the outcast.  
  
Down the hall, Lex closed the door to her room behind her and locked it, out of habit. Turning on her TV for background noise, she opened her backpack and pulled out what she had been hiding- a picture frame. She had been worried it would be too big to fit in there, but with a fair amount of tugging at the zippers she had finally succeeded. The frame itself was beautiful in its simplicity, cherry wood to match the walls of the penthouse with a thin gold trim forming an ivy-like pattern around the edges. Walking over to her closet, she moved aside a few boxes of odds and ends she hadn't unpacked or found a place for yet, Lex pulled out an 11" x 13" canvas she had set to dry in the back, her birthday present for Logan. She scrutinized to painting for a minute before a hint of a smile flashed across her face. She was quite pleased with herself for having thought up something like this. Sentimental gifts weren't normally something she specialized in.  
  
Looking through some old photo albums, she had found a picture of Logan marked "2025" on the back, when she would have been four. Then her great idea hit her. Slipping the photo out of the plastic slot, she had taken it back to her desk and rummaged out a picture of herself from the same year. Placing them under the light next to her, she went to work.  
  
Now she sat eyeing the finished product. A young Logan and four-year-old Lex sat on what had been her favorite red swing in the park. Pushing off the ground, Logan had a protective arm wrapped around her waist she held on the coated chains with her small hands. The changing fall leaves lined the background of a cloudless blue sky and matched the orange hue of Lex's jacket, her bouncy curls settling down after the breeze they had just encountered. Both faces looked frontward with bright smiles, as if they had done this a million times before.  
  
Framing the painting and cutting out the right amount of wrapping paper, Lex jotted something down a small card and placed it in the frame's corner before turning her attention back to the cartoon she still had on the TV.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
6:35 p.m.  
  
"It may not be where I shine, but I can still do something to help," Max watched Logan move about the kitchen.  
  
"Ah, says the woman who screws up instant oatmeal," Lex held up a finger to make light of her point.  
  
"I'm not always that helpless, thank you," Max crossed her arms, though Lex's joke was not at all far from the truth.  
  
"Max, I like cooking, even on my birthday," Logan laughed.  
  
"Yeah, I hear that whole edible-food thing is pretty nice," Lex examined her fingertips, onto which she had put black olives. Making the monster claw gesture most kids do, she snickered under her breath as she ate the one on her thumb.  
  
"Aren't you getting a little old for that?" Max took the bowl away from Lex's free hand before she ate them all.  
  
"Nah, food still makes for neat toys," she laughed, popping the rest of them into her mouth.  
  
"Mm-hmm. Well, rinse off your hand and go set the table," Max pushed a set of dishes Lex's way.  
  
Her mouth being full, she took the pile and headed into the dinging room rather than try to make trouble.  
  
"You act like you've never made olive claws before," Logan drew up a mental image of Max making a monster face and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his throat.  
  
"Manticore kinda had this anti-fun fetish going," Max rolled her eyes, knowing Logan had been well aware of that.  
  
Sticking his own finger into the olive bowl, he brought it back up to run his new fingertip along Max's lips, "C'mon, you know you wanna try it," he waggled his eyebrows.  
  
"Oh really?" Max leaned in, teasing him on. Opening her mouth slightly, she grinned at the last second and leaned back, "And just how old are you today?"  
  
"38," Logan answered automatically, cutting his loses and eating the olive himself.  
  
"Mm-hmm," Max laughed and gave him a quick kiss, "Well, happy 10th anniversary of your 38th birthday."  
  
"Before you two go off on a tangent about your expanding waistlines and graying hair, how about you feed the one of us that can still eat a gallon of ice cream a day?" Lex stuck her head around the corner. "Or do you wish to continue ruining olives for me?"  
  
"Fun as that second one sounds, dinner's ready," Logan tossed Lex an oven mitt. "You can get the chicken, we'll get the rest."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
8:00 p.m.  
  
Settling back on the couch, Logan stretched out his arms and smiled. This had definitely been a birthday to remember. Tough there was no wild party involved, like there'd been when he turned 21, or no shiny new Mustang like on his 16th, finally felt as if his life fit together, and that was more than enough.  
  
"Mom goes first," Lex broke through his contented train of thought as she motioned to the present Max held in her lap.  
  
"Ok," Max eyed her daughter for a moment before handing her present to Logan. Lex had answered just a second too quickly, suggesting that she was on edge for some reason.  
  
Lex nervously ran her fingers along the wrapped frame, willing herself not to have any second thoughts about this, "Just because it's weird doesn't mean it's bad," she chanted in her head as she watched Logan tear the paper of Max's present to reveal a tan leather journal.  
  
Leaning over to lay a lingering kiss on Max's temple, Logan whispered, "Thank you," in her ear.  
  
The meaning behind the notebook suddenly crept forward in Lex's mind, as she remembered what Max had told her about the old poem in the shoebox. "Well," she thought to herself, "At least I'm not taking the sappy route alone."  
  
"Alright, your turn," Logan curiously watched Lex toy with the present in her lap.  
  
Wordlessly handing the present across the coffee table, Lex quickly added, "Uh, happy birthday," as she sat back down, finding eye contact harder than she had expected.  
  
"What exactly are you up to?" Max searched her mind for what could suddenly put Lex in such a disconnected kind of mood.  
  
"Nothing, no sneaky ulterior motives," Lex shook her head. "Just, uh, open it. I hope you like it," she shrugged towards Logan.  
  
Carefully tearing the paper away, Logan's eyes widened at the sight that met them. Picking the card out of the corner, he silently read Lex's choppy handwriting, "Even though I couldn't see you, I thought about you all the time." On the verge of tears, he flipped the card over, "If you're gonna cry, can I leave now?" he read aloud with a laugh. "I'll suck it up then," Logan smiled, reaching over to give Lex a hug.  
  
Leaning in half way, Lex returned the embrace, "I hope you like it."  
  
"I love it," Logan gave her a brief kiss on her head. "It's incredible."  
  
Looking up to meet his eyes, Lex nodded, "Happy birthday, Dad."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
A/N: Well, there you go. My belated New Year's present to you. It is early for a Ground Hog's Day present, though. And some good news- I have ideas for Ch. 21 fresh and nagging in my head, which means that I will actually start writing it. I finished Out Of The Dark and it had renewed (most of) my faith in DA. And believe me, I never thought that would happen. So maybe things could speed up.. with a helluva lotta help from TPTB, of course. Please, please, please drop me a line to let me know you guys remember this story is out there and does, in fact, still exist. Or my heart will be broken. 


	21. Don't Think Pink

A/N: It's shorter than most, but it's a chapter. I was told this would be preferred to another month's delay on an update.  
Anywhoo, as I'm fast running out of excuses for my omnipresent apathy, I'll just skip all that and cut to the chase....

* * *

Chapter 21: Don't Think Pink

Saturday, November 15th  
3:12 p.m.

"Will you just pick one?" Brittany begged, waving to the thick pile of dresses that hung around the fitting room.

"No- I don't like any of 'em," Lex crossed her arms defiantly.

Five hours and four stores into this excursion and they were still at Square One. Lex had managed to find something ghastly unacceptable with every single one of the dresses Brittany had pointed out, "Ok, what's wrong with this one?" she held up a trendy, black, strapless gown.

"Pink."

Looking down at the dress's hemline, Brittany noticed the millimeter-thick pale pink cord that decorated it, "It's so thin it's barely there!" she argued.

"It's still pink," Lex said as if such a thing made the dress toxic waste.

"Ok, this one?" she moved on to the next gown, a sleek red number.

"It's cut weird." Lex found similar faults for all the rest, "Too bead-y; Too swishy; It has lace; Are you kidding? It's got a ruffle!; Again- pink; Too many layers; It's itchy; The top part is ugly."

"Bodice, the top part is called the bodice," Brittany corrected in a mumble through her hands, which covered her face.

"Fine, then the 'bodice' is ugly," Lex whined, flopping down on the bench beside her and throwing her arm over her eyes. "Guys get to wear pants to this crap, I don't see why I can't!"

"Because, unfortunately, you were born without a Y chromosome," Brittany sat down herself.

"Well that can be changed, phenotypically, at least," Lex raised an eyebrow and grinned.

"As much as you getting a sex change would make my life easier at this moment, my instructions are still to bring you home with a dress, shoes, and a formal coat," Brittany clasped her hands together and stood up. She now realized why Max had used the old process of drawing straws with her, Jondy, and Original Cindy this morning. She'd, of course, drawn the short one.

"I know that look," Lex laughed, making Brittany realize she'd been staring at the girl. "And yes, the straw thing is always rigged. But don't worry too much, it's something people rarely fall for twice."

Mulling over how you completely rig straws, and coming up blank, Brittany opened her mouth to ask, but Lex cut her off with a wave of her hand, already knowing what the question would be, "When it's done with four people, Mom leaves the two straws on the end long and puts them in the middle- the other two people who are in on it pick them, leaving one in each of Mom's hands- one for her, and one for the newbie. However, each of those are cut in the middle. Whichever one the newbie picks, she lets them pull the top half, and the other half she drops into the sleeve of her jacket. That's why she hold her hands like this," Lex posed her hands, palms up, but fingers positioned like she was adding a dash of salt to something, "she hold her straw together so it looks long, and the poor, ignorant newbie just got stuck shopping with me," Lex patted Brittany on the shoulder sympathetically.

Brittany smiled and shook her head, "Extreme circumstances call for extreme measures," she turned to face Lex and sighed, "So does letting me in on this mean you're gonna be nice and just pick some clothes so we get this over with?"

Lex pursed her lips and shook her own head slightly, "No."

The Penthouse

8:45 p.m.

Logan sat on the couch with picture albums strewn around him. Running his finger along the edge of the photo in the middle, he stoically focused on the image of Lex proudly pointing at the bright purple cast that ran the length of her left forearm and wrist. The date below it read, "April 12, 2026."

"I told her the branches at the top of the tree wouldn't hold her weight," Max came up behind him, running her hands down to his chest and resting her chin on his shoulder. Leaning her head into his, she smirked, "The girl refused to believe me. Broke her radius in two places, ulna in one, and got a nice teaspoon fracture, too."

"And she had the cast for, what, three weeks?" Logan wondered aloud.

"It could have come off by two, but I made her wear it for a month." At Logan's questioning look, she held up her hand defensively, "C'mon, a kid falls more than fifty feet from a tree, in a public park, mind you, breaks her arm four different ways, and is totally healed two weeks later? That's the kind of rumor that attracts the wrong kind of attention."

"True," Logan's stoic expression returned.

"Ya know, you mope like chasing after a half-transgenic toddler was fun."

"I'll chase after the next five," Logan waggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah," Max rolled her eyes, "and you can carry them all for nine months, too."

Grinning, Logan kissed her temple as they heard the front door open. Brittany strode into the living room, carrying three shopping bags and looking like she hadn't slept in days.

"Setting me up like that, with the straws," she shook her pointer finger at Max, "not nice. Not nice, at all."

"Can you really blame me? You saw what she's like!"

"The monster may not be pretty, but that was still not cool," Brittany laughed and shook her head, holding out the shopping bags and dropping them one by one, "Dress, coat, and shoes. Ten hours, twelve stores. For three things," she flopped down in a vacant armchair. "I've never met a girl with such a strong aversion to shopping."

"Speaking of Lex, where is she?" Logan looked back towards the empty foyer. "You didn't drive by the Sound and dump her in, didja?"

"Tempting," Brittany smiled, "but no- Kayla called her, she stayed down by the car on the phone."

"Well, what'd she pick?" Max went to open the bag nearest to her, but Brittany shot out a hand.

"No! I'm not supposed to let you look! She said she wouldn't put up any crap about wearing it if it was a surprise."

"Surprise?" Logan twisted his neck to try to see the bag himself.

"Well, yeah," Max gave a small nod, "I did the same thing once, when we went to your cousin's wedding. If the dress is surprise, then Lex can say that the smile on her face is from shocking those who know her, not from secretly liking to feel girly every now then." At Logan's bemused expression, she shrugged, "There were several reasons why I wouldn't tell you what that dress looked like." Logan had called over and over that afternoon, worried about what Max had come up when she told him getting something formal wouldn't be a problem. Sure, she hadn't felt like telling exactly where, and how she had obtained the red silk gown, but the look on his face when he saw her was worth all those annoying pages. "Anyway," Max grinned at Brittany and stood up, "would some coffee get you to forgive me for your troubles?"

"It would certainly help." As Max nodded and headed off to the kitchen, Brittany turned her attention to the albums on the coffee table. "These Lex?" she slipped open the nearest one to see Lex blowing out the candles on the second birthday.

"That's her," Logan nodded.

Studying the regret that flashed in his eyes for the slightest second, she ventured, "You've hardly worked since they've been back."

"Well, I've got fourteen years to make up for," Logan shrugged.

"Are you still moping over that?" she chided. "I thought that whole deal wasn't anyone's fault."

"It wasn't. And I'm not moping," Logan had gotten the speech about moping from Max enough times already. "Finding where I fit in with a teenager is turning out to be a lot harder than I had anticipated- and I wasn't expecting something easy."

"Well, Uncle Logan, take it from someone who's just recently finished the 'teenage girl' stage herself- at this point, you're done until it's time to foot the bill for college."

"Words of encouragement are not your strong point, are they?" Logan asked rhetorically.

"Hey, I am a Cale, aren't I?" Brittany laughed.

* * *

A/N: So do I have any readers left? I'm continuing with this, and I really do want to write and wrap it up, for my readers. So leave me a review to let me know you're out there. Because if you've all moved to greener, updated pastures, well, I've got no one to finish this fic for.


	22. Epilogue

A/N: I promised I wouldn't leave this unfinished, and I'm living up to my word. We're skipping ahead, but I'd never have gotten this story done with what I had going before.

Hope y'all enjoy this- it's been great sharing this story with you.

* * *

Chapter 22: Epilogue 

**Monday, December 22, 2042  
6:03 a.m.  
Penthouse**

"Waaaaaaaake up!" A little voice pulled Lex out of a deep sleep. Groaning without opening her eyes, Lex pulled the blankets further up over her face as she rolled over. "Lex!" The voice persisted, its source climbing on the bed, "You gotta get up now!"

"What time is it?" Lex yawned, opening her eyes to see 4-year-old Lauren Cale hovering above her.

"Six," Lauren giggled, her big brown eyes showing how pleased with herself she was for waking her sister. "I got up at five," she proudly added.

"Wonderful," Lex sat up, knowing she'd never get back to sleep now. Feeling the chill of the chill of the morning air meet her bare arms, Lex shot back under the covers, "Laur, go get me my sweatshirt, then I'll get up."

Scurrying across the room in her white bunny slippers, Lauren waited for Lex to bundle up before holding up her arms, a silent demand to be carried, "I missed you," Lauren tightened her arms around Lex's neck.

Lex had just flown the red-eye in from L.A., where she was a junior at UCLA. Rebuilding itself since the Pulse, the university had been regaining its old notoriety over the past decade. Lex was loving her time there studying psychology, but Lauren openly protested her leaving. And Lex had to admit, had it not been for her best friend Kayla Bennett also going to UCLA, she would have been homesick as a freshman. It was strange, she thought, because she never considered herself to be someone who wanted kinds around her all the time, but she missed Lauren most of all when she was at school, "I missed you, too," Lex kissed her temple as she rounded the corner to the kitchen, where Max sat at a stool by the counter, sipping coffee as she read the paper.

"She wanted to wake you the minute she got up," Max laughed at the expression on Lex's face. "I could only distract her for so long."

"Oh, two hours is enough sleep for me," poured herself a cup of coffee as she looked through the bagels, Lauren still hanging on her neck.

"Now we can decorate the tree," Lauren started checking off her lists on her fingers, "and help Mommy wrap presents, and go sledding with Daddy in the park, and make cookies with Aunt Cindy, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't get ahead of yourself," Max felt her own head spinning from the day Lauren had planned. "Why don't you go see if there are any cartoons on TV?" she plucked Lauren off Lex and turned her towards the living room, "Lex will still be here when you get back, I promise."

"I'm surprised you get her to sleep at all," Lex smiled once Lauren was out of sight.

"Well, I felt kinda bad about it, but I told her she had to got o sleep if she wanted Santa to come."

"Manipulating an innocent child's belief in Santa Claus to get her to obey you," Lex mused, "It's actually a classic move."

"I know," Max said with a smug smile, "I used it on you, too."

Laughing, Lex sipped her coffee and gestured towards the living room, "Any other plans I should be aware of?"

"Yes, we've been invited to sit at the head of Margo's table as her guests of honor at the Cale Christmas dinner," Max said with a serious expression.

"Liar."

Max laughed, "Yeah, but Brittany said she did say, "Tell Logan and the rest that I extend my best for the holidays"," she added a snooty voice to impersonate Margo. "And apparently she said it with considerably less disgust than last year."

"I knew we'd grow on her," Lex smiled, thinking back the first and only time she'd met Margo. What was the word Margo had used upon learning about she and Max joining the family? 'Oh yeah,' Lex thought, '"Atrocity", amongst a few choice others.'

Logan walked in, rubbing his eyes, "Don't take it personally," he paused to kiss Max on the cheek, "Margo's got something against everyone." Heading towards Lex, and the coffee pot, he gave his grown daughter a warm hug, "How as your semester?"

"Easy. How's raising a transgenic pre-schooler?"

"Oh, it's great," Logan shook his head. "I've always wanted a rabid spider monkey of my own."

"Nuh-uh!" Lauren stamped her foot in the doorway, hands perched on her hips. "I am not a rabbit spider monkey, duh, Daddy," she rolled her eyes, having already perfected her pronunciation of 'duh.' "I'm a people," she asserted with enough attitude for a teenager.

"Person," Max corrected her, "You're a person."

"Can I go sledding now?" Lauren crossed her arms, running right back over to Lex.

**Tuesday, December 23, 2042  
4:50 p.m.  
Jam Pony**

Standing outside the converted warehouse, Lex laughed inwardly at herself as she spotted Max and Sketchy sitting on a bench, laughing at some story Original Cindy was telling. This was the life she had wanted all along. She a name and a story for everything that used to be just mementos in been in a shoebox. She had a 'whole family;' not to say she hadn't been happy growing up with Max and Jondy, but she had always felt like there was something missing. Now that she knew Max had felt that along, too, she wondered if maybe it was something she heard as a baby or in her sleep from the way it sat in the back of her mind. She ever got the sister she had wished for when she was a kid. Granted, Lauren was about 15 years overdue, but truthfully, Lex wouldn't want her any other way. She had never guessed that these would be the pieces that made up that life- a crummy city, an old warehouse, a graffiti-encrusted relic of tower, extra members of what could be called a 'broken family,' and a penthouse. But for Lex, it was everything she could have asked for.

Walking into the building, she caught Normal's eye and waved, getting an oddly friendly smile from in response.

"Home for Christmas?" He asked, lowering his ever-present headset, sign the day was winding down.

"Yup, just got back. I just couldn't stay away from this Seattle cold," she joked, earning a small laugh from Normal. Max was right; he did kind of grow on you.

"Well, it's good to see you. Max is around here somewhere- I assume you're here to further deplete my supply of messengers."

"It's in my gene pool," Lex winked. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Normal nodded. Turning his focus to a group of riders gathered on the couch, he reverted back to his usual self, "Let's move it! You want holiday pay, you do holiday work and these packages won't deliver themselves! Bip bip bip!"

"Do not tell me you're making nice with Normal," Cindy shook her head as Lex walked up. "And one of those had best be for yo aunt," she eyed the cups of cocoa Lex held, their festive paper mugs the trademark of a little café a few blocks away.

"Hey, you yourself he's not pure evil," Lex held up her free hand defensively. "And, yes, I brought you guys cocoa."

"I assume by "you guys" you're not including the only real guy in the group," Sketchy pointed the two cups left after Lex's.

"Female solidarity, my brother," Cindy grinned at the expression on Sketchy's face. "'Sides, last thing your crazy ass needs is a mix a caffeine and sugar."

"Gotta love service with a smile," Max took a cup appreciatively, savoring the choclatey concoction. "Lauren let you leave for this?" she asked, referring to the night of shopping the three woman had planned.

"Suffice it to say I'm glad I won't be there when she wakes up and finds me gone."

"She's napping?" Max's eyes went wide.

"Well, pelting literally over 1,000 snowballs at squirrels all afternoon would make you tired, too."

Sketchy nodded in agreement, "I had a day like that myself; it is tiring. Those little rats are much better at dodging snow than you'd think."

Cindy laughed at the thought, grabbing her coat, "C'mon ladies. Anyone who spent a day in the snow with the Wild Thang deserves to get somewhere where the heat actually works."

"Am I not invited?" Sketchy figured.

"Don't you need to work overtime now to make your rent?" Max remembered his constant complaining this week.

"Yeah, but that's what my landlord said last month, too. And besides, I can always go find new digs by shacking up with a fine lady," he waggled his eyebrows, as he stared off in thought.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Lex laughed as they headed out.

**ToyWorld  
6:30 p.m.**

"So what do you think Lauren would want?" Lex felt her head start to spin with all the packed shelves of the toy store.

"To go live with you," Max quickly suggested.

"Just for that, I'm buying her a giant bag of Skittles," Lex pointed to the candy display by the register. "Has she been any better with dolls?"

"No, she found the last remaining whole Barbie about a month ago and found a way to make it explode."

"What was the cause of death this time?"

"Well, she tied it with a jump rope, tied the rope to a bar in her closet and swung the Barbie into the wall at full force, so I'd say blunt force trauma."

Lex shook her head, putting the box of Barbie clothes back on the shelf, "Maybe a set of army men would better."

"I wouldn't; she came around a few days ago asking if she could have a magnifying glass for Christmas," Max rubbed her eyes and groaned. "It took me hours to get all that melted plastic off the floor last time."

"How about a yoga video for kids? Or some sedatives?" Lex laughed.

"Hey, how 'bout somethin' that involves a lotta jumpin'?" Original Cindy called from the next isle. "She's advanced enough to give DDR a shot."

"DD-what?" Max and Lex looked at box in confusion.

"You never saw this before?" Cindy laughed. "My older sibs had the pads- it was awesome at birthday parties when I was a kid."

"Is it a video game? How do you play?" Lex scratched her head.

"It's kinda like one- you follow the arrows on the screen and jump to the places on the pad while dancing to techno versions of what were once decent songs. Trust me- it was the shit," Original Cindy smiled, "And they even have the game for your PS Nitro. That was the last system to come out before the Pulse."

"Since when are you gamer, girl?" Max couldn't help but be amused by her friend's newly revealed expertise.

"I had two brothas, so it came with the territory."

"Alright," Lex shrugged. "DDR it is."

**Wednesday, December 24th  
8:23 p.m.  
Penthouse**

Standing in the kitchen's threshold, Max looked out the scene before her. In front of the tree with all the wrapped presents, Logan sat on the floor with Lauren, clad in her favorite Grinch pajamas Lex had given her, playing a mini version of foosball. Lex sat in an armchair beside them, reffing the game as she ate from the plate of cookies in her lap. Lauren would stand up and do her own little victory dance every time she scored a goal and Logan would attempt to hide the fact that he wasn't letting her win, he was loosing to a four-year-old fair and square.

"You know, Santa won't come with all your new toys until you go to sleep," she heard Logan say.

"Yeah, but he'll still come later because I was good this year," Lauren put her hand on her hip, feeling smart as she corrected her father. "And we didn't even put out the cookies yet cuz Lex keeps eating them."

"I'll definitely save some for Santa. I heard he's bringing me a car this year," Lex angelically grinned down at Logan.

"Well, I think you need to get better sources," Logan shook his head and smiled back.

Sighing to herself as a small smile crossed her face, Max thought back on the Christmases she had experienced as a kid. The one she spent with Lucy certainly wasn't one she cared to remember much about. Then the rest were just cold, snowy days spent watching other kids waiting for Santa. She never understood what the whole experience was really like until she had Lex.

"Sight seeing?" Jondy came up beside Max, having finished putting away the rest of the dinner dishes.

"It's always a good time," Max cocked her head to the side. "Ya know, I think I did pretty good with this whole family thing. Even if I had a screwed up approach, still, it came out good for a genetically engineered killing machine."

"Yeah," Jondy wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Not bad at all for a born soldier."

With that, they waked in the living room to join the festivities. Jondy stretched out on the couch, while Max took a spot on the floor, next to Logan.

He immediately drew her in closer, kissing her on the cheek, "You certainly took your time getting in here," he said, not realizing what Max and Jondy had just been talking about.

"Yeah," smiled, "but I'm here now."

* * *

A/N: So there you have it- I'm done at last. 

Merry Xmas to all… drop me a line as a present. ;-)


End file.
